An elementary homeroom teacher is being investigated after allegedly ordering a boy to stand for the whole day as part of a disciplinary method.
The ill-fated attempt to teach a lesson came after the teacher at an elementary school in Goyang-si, northern Seoul, whose identification has not been revealed, asked one of the sixth grade students in the classroom to make a presentation during Korean class last month, according to the local police and Gyeonggi Goyang Office of Education on Monday.
Frustrated by the student’s barely audible voice, the teacher told the student several times to speak up, police found.
The sixth grader was later allegedly forced to stand until the late afternoon by the instructor.
The teacher reportedly told him “you are not going to sit again until you figure out how to speak up,” as he kept asking for permission to sit down.
The discipline continued as the students changed classrooms later that morning. During the lunch hour, the boy had to reportedly finish his meal quickly in order to resume his punishment.
It was not until the beginning of the sixth class in the late afternoon that the student was permitted to take a seat.
Shortly after the student’s parents heard about the incident, harsh protests followed.
“It is obviously beyond any disciplinary method,” his parents insisted. “The teacher didn’t even allow him to go to the bathroom and humiliated him in front of other classmates.”
The parents also filed a complaint with the police against the school and the provincial office of education after the school failed to take sufficient action, arguing “the school is simply covering up the incident without acknowledging the magnitude of the case.”
The homeroom teacher, who has been transferred to another class, said “it was just part of discipline.”
Meanwhile, the police told reporters that it is “carrying out an investigation with a child protection institution and will bring him in for further inquiries.”
Gyeonggi Goyang Office of Education will decide on the level of disciplinary action against the teacher based on the investigation result, its officials said.
