September 2023
There have been several public school teacher suicides this year from bullying by parents.
The latest one was heartbreaking. It was a suicide of a young woman teacher, fresh out of university.
The parents of her students stressed and bullied her so much that she killed herself, in her classroom, as a statement against the bullying.
It is currently an ongoing struggle to protect public school teachers' rights.
The teachers in my public school were very stressed for several weeks about attending a protest in Seoul, to demand changes from the government. There were threats that if any teachers called out sick or used a vacation day to attend the protest that they would be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
The teachers were stressed between wanting to fight for their rights and the possibility of losing the teaching careers they studied so hard to achieve.
Native teachers are prohibited from protesting so I was not given the option of attending the protest.
But I wanted to show my support for the teachers in my school.
The morning after the stressful, long awaited day of the protest, I purchased four cakes (one for each teacher room grades 3 to 6) and wrote the note below to encourage the teachers who had made the difficult decision to fight for their rights to be safe in their classroom.
I felt humbled and honored by their strength and resolve.
It was something small, but emotional support during a difficult time can make a big difference in people's lives.
When the teachers came back on Tuesday morning, they all found a small gesture of support welcoming them back to their, hopefully, safe haven.
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I stand with the Korean public school teachers for their right to be safe in their classroom. Safe from bullying from parents and safe from violence from their students.
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