In the case of special teacher A, who was indicted on charges of child abuse law and caused controversy, the remarks made by teacher A at the time of discipline to the son of webtoon writer Joo Ho-min (then 9 years old) were revealed. It was found that teacher A said to the master, a child with developmental disabilities, “You really hate me” or “I hate (you), I really hate you, I hate you.”
The prosecution judged that this remark by teacher A went beyond the scope of ‘discipline’ that can be given to a 9-year-old disabled child, and handed it over to trial. However, Mr. A’s lawyer denied the charge of child abuse, saying, “The remarks that appeared in the prosecution’s indictment were only negative stories gathered during a long conversation.”
On the 2nd, the arraignment of teacher A, which the Hankook Ilbo secured through the People’s Power Office of Member Sang-beom Yoo of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, contained the remarks he made to his master on September 13 last year in the classroom of B Elementary School’Customized Learning Class’ in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province. Considering the statement that Mr. Joo had previously announced, it is estimated that Mr. and Mrs. Joo’s remarks were secretly secured by Teacher A by putting a tape recorder in their son’s bag.
According to the indictment, teacher A said to the master, “Oh안전놀이터, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate you, I hate you too, I really hate it.” He continued, “Oh, that’s really disgusting, what the hell is going on in your head,” and “You have a very nasty habit, I’m talking about you.” Previously, teacher A had argued against the background of this remark, saying, “I made a related remark to let you know the meaning of ‘nasty’ while educating dictation sentences.”
Also, Mr. A said, “Hey, do you know why you are here? Come to school? Do you know why you are doing this? Why are you doing this? Why can’t you go to class O? I can’t go, I want to go to my friends?
After hearing the recording, Mr. and Mrs. Joo sued teacher A, and the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated the case, judged the remarks to be “emotional abuse that harms the mental health and development of children with disabilities.” So, teacher A was prosecuted for violating the Child Abuse Punishment Act and the Disabled Welfare Act. Following the prosecution’s indictment, teacher A was removed from her position, but Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Superintendent Lim Tae-hee reinstated teacher A on the 1st, saying, “It was judged that the removal from the position was excessive for a teacher who works with a special sense of mission.”
Regarding this accusation, teacher A’s lawyer said in a phone call with Dong-A Ilbo, “I only picked out and listed negative words without considering the overall context of the conversation that lasted two and a half hours.” explained. He also said, “The hateful comments were not made as if admonishing the master, but the teacher’s self-talk, so the comments before and after were omitted.”
In particular, the lawyer said, “The prosecution’s indictment is missing the master’s answer,” and “(Since only the teacher’s negative words appeared in the indictment), in the case of discipline or abuse, the part that proves discipline was completely excluded.” As shown in the indictment, it was not that teacher A continued to interrogate, but that it was a process of talking with the master to inform him of the mistake and discipline the child. ※The Hankook Ilbo publishes the full text of teacher A’s remarks in the indictment and detailed explanations from teacher A’s lawyer below for accurate judgment by readers.