The Supreme Court ruled that it is difficult to punish a teacher for child abuse simply for cursing at a fourth-grade elementary school student who caused a disturbance by not following instructions during class.
According to the legal community on the 10th, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Chief Justice Ma Yong-joo) recently overturned the lower court's suspended sentence of a 500,000 won fine for teacher A, who was indicted for violations of the Child Welfare Act (child abuse), and sent the case back to the Gwangju District Court.
A is accused of emotional abuse for saying to student B, who failed to follow the instruction to put his cell phone in his bag, "There's no one this disrespectful." in a fourth-grade classroom at an elementary school in Gwangju in May 2022.
A, the homeroom teacher, confiscated B's cell phone for not following his instructions, to which B responded by banging on the desk in frustration. It was investigated that A made the remark to himself in front of other students.
Both the first and second trials suspended the 500,000 won fine for A. They concluded that A's remark exceeded the purpose or scope of discipline and constituted emotional abuse that could hinder the child's mental health and development.
The Supreme Court also acknowledged that A's statement was inappropriate. However, the court ruled that, "This alone cannot be viewed as emotional abuse that hinders the mental health and development of the victimized child or that poses a risk of such consequences."
In addition, the Supreme Court noted, "It can also be viewed as an attempt to correct the victimized child, who could not control his emotions, with a sharp remark intended to emphasize that the child's behavior was a serious mistake that contradicted rules and etiquette, or it was a kind of self-talk or complaint stemming from the realities and difficulties in the educational field."