‘Protecting’ children at cost of school trips and sports

When 45-year-old Bang Kyeong-hwan’s son clinched first place among fourth graders at a national swimming competition last year representing his school, he found the accomplishment deserving of recognition.

What his son was rewarded with at school, however, was a private, low-key ceremony between himself and his teacher. There was no classroom applause or cheers for the champion, although Bang thought he deserved it.

“For kids growing up, there should be a culture of cheering for a classmate’s success, but now these are things of bygone days,” Bang told The Korea Herald, saying that a “new culture” has taken root.

“A recognition of how hard he or she tried to reach a certain goal is not just a reward, but a crucial element in a child’s growth,” Bang said. “Otherwise, they would not be able to experience what it is like to achieve something.”

Bang’s case is just one example of how schools have come to avoid elements that could lead to complaints such as competitive sports, field trips and minor injuries in the schoolyard.

A December survey on 2,746 teachers by the Korean Federation of Teachers Unions showed that 51.9 percent suffered from mailcious complaints from parents in the second half of last year.

While the number of complaints filed against teachers annually is not tracked, some claim teachers are exercising increased self-constraint in fear of sanctions against them as a result of what could often be frivolous yet malicious complaints from overly attentive parents. Furthermore, protective measures for teachers remain elusive despite recent reinforcement through legislation.

In latest examples, more schools are forgoing field trips ― something that has become more commonplace after a deadly incident in 2022 in which a child on a school trip died in a car accident, while some schools have banned students from playing any sports on school playgrounds.

According to data compiled by Rep. Chun Ha-ram of the minor conservative Reform Party, the number of elementary schools in Seoul, Daejeon and Gyeonggi Province sending students on daylong excursions has halved from 2025 to 2026.

Moreover, nearly 4 percent of the 5,584 elementary schools outside of Seoul have officially banned students from engaging in any sports inside school. Busan accounts for the largest share, with 34.7 percent of its 303 elementary schools imposing such restrictions on playgrounds this year, followed by Incheon’s 9.3 percent and Gyeonggi Province’s 4.4 percent.

The trend also reflects some parents’ disdain for South Korea’s hypercompetitive society.

Data from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education for its 605 elementary schools compiled by Seoul councilor Chae Su-ji of the People Power Party showed that only 14.5 percent held awards ceremony for students in front of classmates, meaning other schools either honored students for their excellence privately or did not honor them at all. Sixty percent of elementary schools in Seoul either did not honor winners at their annual sports day, or skipped the event entirely.

Chun blames overprotective parents for such changes, claiming that administrative complaints are being abused in a new form of helicopter parenting.

During the National Assembly’s government interpellation session on Monday, Chun said the excessive level of administrative complaints against teachers, coupled with a lack of protective measures for teachers, are leaving other students and parents unfairly affected.

“I wonder if the goal of our education has become solely focused on not hurting students, especially since teachers have begun to be harassed by some parents filing complaints,” Chun said during the session. “It seems we are focusing on protecting students in a sterile environment.”

For example, some schoolyard injuries or disputes — often the cause of administrative complaints filed by parents — became life lessons for children as they grow up.

“I mean, you can get hurt playing soccer, right? Can you really avoid physical activities just because you’re afraid of that?” Chun said Monday. “Isn’t the process of overcoming feelings of alienation (because the playground was already occupied by a small group of students) also a form of education?”

In response to Chun’s inquiry, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok lamented the government’s inability to swiftly handle the matter.

“I would like to sincerely apologize for not having given this matter much thought, having only recognized the issue without giving it deeper consideration,” Kim said Monday. “This may seem like a simple issue, but it is a grave one.”

Experts say that some parents may have become overprotective and use complaints against teachers as tools to achieve their goals due to their experiences in Korea’s hyper competitive society.

“(The parents’) goal is to prevent their children being worn down by such a competitive society, but it shouldn’t be achieved by trying to remove the possibility of failing,” Lim Myung-ho, professor of psychology at Dankook University, said, adding that children should learn how to cope with failure rather than shielded from it.

He went on to say that because schools can be at a disadvantage when faced with complaints, solutions tend to be passive, such as forgoing sports days or ending such events in draws.

“(Sporting events orchestrated to end in draws) could have negative impact, such as making people think that there is no need to compete. So, shielding children too much from competition, because of the competitive nature of (Korean) society is not a good way,” he said.

Teachers facing excessive complaints, and “gapjil,” or abuse of power, from parents, have been a social issue for some time. After the 2023 suicide of an elementary school teacher in Seocho-gu, Seoul, stirred public outcry, a handful of bills were introduced.

Despite the set of rules introduced, the government struggles to contain frivolous administrative complaints or lawsuits that pose a threat to teachers, Chun said in an inquiry to Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin at the National Assembly Monday.

Chun also called on the government to shoulder the legal burden of teachers handling the complaints, who had to deal with those burdens on their own.

“We will bear in mind that ensuring our teachers’ peace of mind while conducting educational activities is key to our children’s growth in a proper way,” Choi responded.

Choi added the government is working to introduce more laws to reinforce protective measures for teachers who take necessary precautions.

He said there is a long road to go, invoking a recent appellate court ruling in November that found a teacher guilty for failing to prevent a child from being killed in a car accident during a field trip in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, in part because the teacher’s exemption clause is not clearly stated.

A revision to the Act on the Prevention of and Compensation for Accidents at School came into effect in June to exempt a teacher from civil and criminal accountability for a deadly incident involving his or her student in case teachers acted with due diligence.

“In fact, teachers tended to avoid these duties because they were held fully responsible for accidents that occurred while on field trips for students,” Choi said.

consnow@heraldcorp.com