The country’s largest teachers’ group on Thursday visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to denounce the escalating investigation of teachers over allegedly lax management of student violence on campus.
The visit by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association is expected to deepen conflict between the two parties over whether teachers bear sole responsibility for school violence that has been blamed for student suicides.
According to the conservative teachers’ group, its president Ahn Yang-ok and other leaders visited the police agency to deliver its message that teachers should not be forced to take all responsibility for school violence. They protested the police’s recent attempt to seek prosecution of its members for their pupils’ bullying and other assaults on peers on campus.
Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association head Ahn Yang-ok (second from left) and the group’s other senior officials visit the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Thursday to protest the recent investigations of teachers over school violence. (Yonhap News)
“The investigation will discourage the majority of teachers who fight irregularities and seek peace on campus everyday,” Yang told reporters as he entered the SMPA building. “Every member in the school is responsible for school violence, including the teachers, the students and their parents. The teachers should not be solely blamed for the tragedy. We are here to listen to the police’s explanation.”
He noted that the probe could make teachers passive in tackling bullying.
Yang’s visit came two days after the police launched two unprecedented investigations into teachers’ alleged neglect of bullied students. The teachers stand accused of ignoring requests from the victims and their parents for protection and not taking proper measures to cease the school violence blamed for the suicides of two middle school students in December.
According to the Korean Women’s Development Institute, about 14.5 percent of freshmen, 15.9 percent of sophomores and 10.4 percent of seniors at middle schools have experienced school violence.
Alarmed by the string of deaths, President Lee Myung-bak has called for the strengthened role of teachers and headmasters in resolving the problem. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology recently announced a set of guidelines to stem the violence.
The measures were initially welcomed by the KFTA for allowing more authority and autonomy to teachers inside the classroom but later faced resistance for burdening school staff.
“I agree that teachers should take care of their students on campus. But aren’t police officers accountable for violence in the neighborhood? We should collaborate, not grill or persecute each other,” Yang said.
By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldm.com)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
