Faced with violent students, schools increasingly forced to 'pass the bomb'

Recently, a video of an elementary school student physically assaulting and shouting profanity at the vice principal of his school in Jeonju, North Jeolla, went viral, shocking the public as the latest case of abuse of teachers.

A student slaps a vice principal on the cheek at an elementary school in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on June 3. [NORTH JEOLLA BRANCH OF THE KOREAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS]

Recently, a video of an elementary school student physically assaulting and shouting profanity at the vice principal of his school in Jeonju, North Jeolla, went viral, shocking the public as the latest case of abuse of teachers.

According to the North Jeolla branch of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, the incident occurred on the morning of June 3, when a vice principal tried to prevent a third-grade boy from leaving school without permission.

The boy slapped the middle-aged vice principal’s left cheek over five times while repeatedly using profanity, and even spat and bit his arm before running home.

He had been causing trouble in school by cussing at classmates and hitting teachers since his enrollment at the school on May 14.

The boy’s mother appeared at the school shortly after, but instead of apologizing for her child’s disruptive behavior, she denied he'd done anything wrong, claiming that teachers had hit the child first away from the cameras.

She also struck the homeroom teacher’s arm while complaining. The teacher has since reported the mother to the police for assault.

The mother then threatened to report the school for child abuse, according to the North Jeolla branch of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations.

Last Wednesday, the association filed a police report against the boy's mother as a possible case of child abuse by neglect.

Following the incident, the student was suspended from school for 10 days but is set to return on June 25.

Along with two other students the boy has bullied, his classmates fear his return.

Over the past four years, this student has jumped between seven schools in Incheon, North Jeolla’s Iksan and Jeonju. During this time, he was forced to transfer twice due to school violence and violating teachers’ rights.

Forced transfer is the most severe punishment possible in elementary schools since expulsion is not an option in elementary and middle schools, as both are compulsory education in Korea.

Recognizing the student’s difficulties in engaging in school activities, the school offered to let the boy receive treatment at the Wee center in Jeonbuk University Hospital, where alternative education and therapeutic counseling are available, an official from the Jeonbuk State Office of Education said.

However, the parents rejected the offer.

An illustration by ChatGPT. [CHATGPT]

Just half a decade ago, stories of teachers striking students as a form of discipline made headlines. Today, the narrative has flipped, leaving educators defenseless against violent and aggressive students.

Since only little can be done about troublemakers, schools are transferring them to another school.

Dumping such problematic students to other schools is called “passing the bomb” in the education world .

While teachers believe hospital treatment is necessary for students who repeatedly cause the same troubles in schools, such processes require parental consent, thus leaving teachers with no options but to transfer or neglect them.

The number of transfers or expulsions of students due to infringement of teachers’ rights or school violence is on the rise.

According to the Education Ministry, the number of cases where committees for the protection of teachers' rights called for a student to be transferred or expelled tripled from 113 in 2020 to 236 in 2021 and 333 in 2022. These statistics include transfers and expulsions since expulsion is limited to high schools.

The number of students transferring because they committed school violence has also rebounded.

Some 2,120 cases were reported in 2019, but due to COVID-19, this number dropped significantly to 667 in 2020 and increased again to 1,001 in 2021.

Although schools are reluctant to accept transferred students, they do not reject them.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education official explained that they assign students to other schools as per the law, and “unless a school has special circumstances,” they all accept transferred students. This is because they can also seek similar help in the future.

However, transferring troubled students solves no problems, as they often cause similar issues at their new schools.

“Among the past cases, there was an elementary student who was transferred multiple times but eventually circled back to the original school due to lack of other options,” said Jeon Soo-min, a lawyer who once handled school violence cases for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Finding transfers meaningless in treating troublemakers, teachers are advocating for hospital treatment for students exhibiting violent behavior to the point of being unmanageable in schools.

However, obtaining parental consent is challenging and often leads to malicious complaints against educators.

According to a survey by the Korea Federation of Teachers’ Associations involving 11,320 teachers from kindergarten to high school nationwide, 559 out of 2,106 teachers, or 26.6 percent, who had separated violent students reported receiving complaints from their parents.

Seo Geo-seok, the Superintendent of Education of Jeonbuk, visits an elementary school to meet the vice principal, who was recently physically assaulted by a student. [JEONBUK STATE OFFICE OF EDUCATION].

A middle school teacher in Gyeonggi recalled being sued for child abuse when his student faced transfer to another school after punching him in the stomach four times in March.

“The parents called my remark to correct his behavior emotional abuse,” the teacher said.

Another teacher in North Gyeongsang also faced conflict with a student’s parents when he recommended treatment for the child.

“The parent said his uncle, a doctor, confirmed that the child does not have ADHD and said, ‘Who are you to know better,’” the teacher recalled.

Some teachers are avoiding students who are forced to transfer to their schools.

“At one school, a bunch of teachers took sick leaves upon learning that a student with a history of hitting friends and putting a dead hamster in a water bottle was transferring to their school,” said Kim Han-hee, the head of Korea Elementary School Teachers Association.

The association has sent an official document to the Education Ministry seeking authority for school principals to request mental health checkups for troubled students and allow students to take such tests without parental consent.

According to a survey conducted in August 2023 on the mental health and behavior of students from elementary to high school, 22,838 students out of 1.73 million surveyed were categorized as being at risk of suicide, while 82,614 were identified as requiring attention.

Kim argued that if a child is proven to need treatment following the test, they should “enroll in a hospital school where they can receive both education and treatment.”

Hospital Schools are schools inside hospitals that provide a learning environment for students needing treatment, including those who struggle to maintain peer relationships and show disruptive behavior at school.

However, forcing students to take mental tests requires a legal revision.

“Such measures cannot be implemented without amending the law, as it could infringe on a student's right to freedom,” an Education Ministry official said.

He said although the ministry is preparing legislation, "it is difficult to pin down when it will be enacted as the 22nd National Assembly just began its term."

BY KIM JUN-HEE, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]