TV drama delivers justice, but real-life teachers say they're on their own
The character known as "U-jin’s mother" appears in episode 5 of Netflix drama "Teach You a Lesson." Courtesy of Netflix
A barrage of text messages sent by a parent to a teacher in a scene in "Teach You a Lesson" felt familiar to many viewers.
"U-jin’s self-esteem is falling, so don’t make him do math in front of the class." "Please don’t mark incorrect answers with a slash on U-jin’s spelling test. It’s affecting his self-esteem." "Please always take my child’s side in any conflicts with his peers."
The character of U-jin's mother starts by sending complaining text messages, but goes on to take issue with the teacher’s clothes and way of speaking. She digs through the teacher’s social media accounts and pries into her private life. "My husband is enraged, so watch out," the mother says before filing a child abuse complaint.
For many viewers, it was horrifying to watch, but many teachers said the drama was an almost exact enactment of reality. Some said they failed to finish the drama because it was too painful. A few recounted experiences with parents that had caused them trauma.
Unlike in "Teach You a Lesson," however, there is no Korean Educational Rights Protection Bureau in real life to deliver the satisfying sense of justice the drama provides.
Cases unfolding in real life
A 32-year-old elementary school teacher in the Seoul metropolitan area said she turned off "Teach You a Lesson" midway through an episode. Watching it, she said, brought back the trauma of complaints she received from parents.
One parent once demanded to know why her child had not been elected class leader. Another berated her for embarrassing their child by reprimanding them in the teachers’ office. In another case, a parent became angry because a teacher the child disliked had entered the classroom as an exam proctor.
As a result, she struggled with anxiety and a panic disorder. Even now, she occasionally receives text messages from parents calling her rude or insolent.
"In the drama, the story ends with catharsis," she said. "But reality is different, and that leaves me feeling vulnerable and helpless."
Another teacher, an 18-year veteran of elementary school classrooms, said she was threatened with a child abuse complaint after reprimanding a student who had physically hurt a classmate. The Teachers’ Rights Protection Committee under the local education office ruled that the case constituted an infringement of her authority as a teacher. The parent responded by filing an administrative lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision.
When the two later crossed paths at a school event, the parent hurled insults at her, saying she needed to learn her place by being sued.
"It was deeply unsettling to watch U-jin’s mother in the drama," the teacher said. "She was exactly like the parent I had suffered from."
The legal threats were not empty. According to the Ministry of Education, 1,870 child abuse complaints were filed against teachers between September 2023 and February this year. Of the 993 closed cases, 898, or 90.4 percent, ended either with no charges or indictments.
The numbers suggest that many of the complaints were unfounded. But regardless of how the cases end, accused teachers must be investigated by the police and reviewed by local education offices until they are cleared.
A middle school P.E. teacher in South Gyeongsang Province was reported for child abuse after making a student do squats, which the parent saw as abusive treatment. Prosecutors cleared the teacher of the charge in November last year, and the parent’s appeal and request for a court review were both dismissed.
However, after the legal proceedings had run their course, the parent sued the teacher again. Police dismissed the parent’s allegations of defamation, insult, assault and false accusation, and referred the child abuse case to prosecutors with a recommendation of no charges.
The teacher is now on leave and undergoing psychiatric treatment. "From the moment the complaint was filed to the day I was questioned by police, I felt as if I had become a criminal," the teacher said.
Shin Woo, a lawyer specializing in school bullying cases, said every child abuse case involving teachers is automatically referred to prosecutors.
"Many teachers fear the process that follows once an investigation begins even more than any actual punishment," Shin said.
Student, parent and teacher representatives deliver a joint declaration during a memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death by suicide of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School, held at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on July 18, 2024. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho
Education authorities have stepped up efforts to protect teachers. According to the ministry, protective measures for teachers more than doubled from 3,035 cases in 2022 to 6,699 in 2023. Legal support remains rare.
"Teachers are left to shoulder every burden alone, including hiring a lawyer," said Kang Seok-jo, head of the Elementary School Teachers’ Union.
Cho Ki-hyun, a child abuse lawyer at Daehan Central Law Firm, said many teachers are removed from classes and suffer mental and financial damage even after they are cleared of wrongdoing, stressing a need for strengthening legal support.
Some people are calling for revisions to the Child Welfare Act. Park Ju-hyung, a professor of education at Gyeongin National University of Education, said the scope of emotional abuse should be more clearly defined, as the current system allows complaints to be filed largely on suspicion alone.
"If indiscriminate malicious complaints are left unchecked, teachers will increasingly avoid legitimate student guidance, further deepening the chilling effect on educational activities," Park said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.