A drama *'The elementary student I love'* centered on the emotions between a female elementary school teacher and her student is facing strong backlash from the education sector.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) called for the immediate withdrawal of the drama's production and airing plans in an official statement on the 1st, noting that it 'glamorizes a clear grooming crime and violates children's human rights.'
The controversial *'The elementary student I love'* is based on a webtoon of the same name that was serialized from 2015 to 2020. The story revolves around a female elementary school teacher who develops feelings for a male character she meets in an online game she accidentally starts after breaking up with her boyfriend, only to later discover that the character is actually her elementary school student.
On the 27th of last month, the original platform C&C Revolution and the production company Meta New Line officially announced the drama adaptation of the webtoon. It is known that the directing will be handled by director Jeong Seong-hyun of 'Voice 2,' while the screenplay will be written by writer Jeong Se-hyuk. The specific scheduling and casting are still undecided.
However, there has been strong criticism that such a setting itself distorts the power dynamics between students and teachers and encourages the inappropriate relationships between them to be consumed as fantasy.
In relation to this, the KFTA stated, 'Teachers must build trust with students and should engage in education with high moral standards and professionalism,' and emphasized that 'a narrative that exploits this status to share personal feelings with minors is neither romance nor creativity but glorification of a crime.'
Furthermore, they noted, 'If this work airs, it could obscure the severity of grooming crimes that occur in reality and create serious concerns that it would trivialize such issues,' adding that 'it is inevitable that child actors who will have to perform these scenes will suffer psychological and emotional harm. Exposing children to danger for commercial benefit is another form of violence.'
They continued, 'Such planning tarnishes the honor of dedicated teachers and undermines the foundation of education, which is the trust between teachers, students, and parents,' demanding ▲ the withdrawal of the drama's production and airing plans, ▲ the review and inspection of harmfulness by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, and ▲ the establishment of content standards for child and youth protection.
Kang Joo-ho, president of the KFTA, also emphasized, 'Distorting the trust between teachers and students into a source of amusement is an act that ridicule education, and the harm will ultimately fall back on the students left in schools and the silent teachers.'
[Photo] Naver Series
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