The Kyunhyang Shinmun found out (Korean article).

It has been found that the most common problem parents of school-aged children bring to parent help rooms is issues with teachers.

On July 5 an organization of parents of school-aged children (참교육을위한전국학부모회) published its 2008 – 2009 report of the issues parents brought to the help center it operates.

The organization announced, “over the past two years the greatest problem parents have sought help with, the use of physical and verbal violence by low-quality teachers, made up 32 percent of all issues, while 31.3 percent were school issues such as operating committees, bribery, and school meals.”

According to the report, the use of emotional and physical violence by teachers against students remains as common as ever. One father of a third grader said, “for one semester the teacher, a woman in her 40s, wrote up everything the students did not wrong (including things my daughter had nothing to do with)… she took it all to the committee and made my daughter look like a criminal in public.”

Students also protested the habitual use of violence by teachers. One student who was beaten by a teacher on the head and buttocks for a nearly two-month period was eventually admitted to a hospital for eye injuries. The student’s parents said, “it will take six months of in-patient treatment to heal.”

Sexual misconduct and bribery remain common as well. One couple said, “our daughter’s headroom teacher secretly molested her… we demanded that the teacher be punished but to get out of it the school said students love that teacher so her story was hard to believe.” Another couple were upset that a teacher, apparently seeking a bribe, called them on the telephone making veiled threats such as “your daughter is very strange.”

Mr. Park, head of the organization, said, “protections for students’ rights at school must be strengthened.”