On the afternoon of the 4th, fellow teachers shed tears at the Seoi-cho teacher’s ’49th Memorial Ceremony’ held at the auditorium of Seoi Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Reporter Park Jong-min
After the death of a Seoi-cho teacher, teachers fell into the sense of urgency that “there should be no next” and frustration that they could not see a clue to protect teaching rights.
Psychiatrists diagnosed the current phenomenon as a state of ‘collective trauma’. Professor Kim Hyeon-soo, a professor of psychiatry and principal of an alternative school, emphasized that “the law and system must be improved in order for teachers to escape collective trauma.”
“Malignant civil complaints, Ministry of Education response raised collective trauma”
Collective trauma refers to the psychological effects experienced by a group directly or indirectly exposed to a painful event. Unlike individual trauma, the group as a whole feels hurt, fearful, or vulnerable because the people in the group are closely related to the event or people in question.
In the case of this case, the death of a Seoi-cho teacher was the starting point, and critics say that the Ministry of Education’s response increased the ‘collective trauma’ of teachers.
The fact that three teachers died in a row within two months became known, and the anger of the teachers piled up. Last July, a new teacher at Seoi-cho, Seocho-gu, a mid-level teacher at Sinmok Elementary School in Yangcheon-gu, on the 31st of last month, and an elderly teacher in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, died one year before retirement on the 3rd.
In the midst of this, the response put forward by the Ministry of Education inflamed the anger of teachers.
Regarding the Seoi-cho teacher’s 49th memorial rally, the Ministry of Education warned several times that it would punish teachers who took collective actions such as annual leave, sick leave, and discretionary holidays, as well as administrators (principal and vice principal) who approved the teacher’s service.
However, as protests intensified, with 200,000 teachers (according to the organizer) gathering at a rally held in Yeouido on the 2nd, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho made a direct mention of the disciplinary action, such as announcing an appeal on the 3rd to “protect the school.” I avoided it and went to ‘level control’.
On the 5th, one day after the rally, Deputy Prime Minister Lee announced the disciplinary policy at the plenary meeting of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts of the National Assembly, saying, “I learned the feelings of remembrance for the deceased and the desire of most teachers to restore teaching authority.” withdrew
On the 5th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho officially withdrew his previous position that he would discipline teachers who took sick leave on the 9/4 ‘Day of Stopping Public Education’. Mr. Park Mo (25), a second-year elementary school teacher in Ulsan, who attended the 49th memorial rally for Seoi Elementary School teacher Park Jong-min, a reporter “What really upsets me is the Ministry of Education’s response.”said. Mr. Park said, “When malicious complaints came in to teachers, the education office and school administrators did not protect the teachers. Now, even the Ministry of Education pointed a knife at the teachers,” and said, “I felt skeptical about the job.”
Mr. Lee (25), an elementary school teacher in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, said, “I was desperate because I thought the Ministry of Education was there to discipline and oppress teachers.”
In a phone call with CBS No Cut News on the 5th, Professor Kim Hyun-soo, a specialist in mental health medicine and the principal of the alternative school ‘Growth School Star’, said, “While teachers were defenselessly exposed to repeated malicious complaints, the Ministry of Education did not accept teachers’ demands, triggering collective trauma.”analyzed the cause.
Baek Jong-woo, a professor of psychiatry at Kyunghee University Hospital, said in a phone call with CBS Nocut News, “The problem of falling teaching authority must have accumulated within the three-year period of social distancing from Corona.”
“There may be a shortage of teachers due to the increase in resignation and leave of absence”
‘Public education stop day’ Empty classrooms. While the death of Yonhap News teachers became known and caused social repercussions, a survey result showed that the proportion of teachers who thought about extreme options was 2 to 5 times higher than the general population of non-teacher.
According to a fact-finding survey of 3,505 teachers conducted between the 16th and 23rd of last month by the National Teachers and Education Workers’ Union and Green Hospital, 16% answered that they had thought of committing suicide. 4.5% said they had made a specific plan.
Compared to 3-7% of the general population having suicidal ideation and 0.5-2% planning suicide, teachers are at a 2-5 times higher risk of extreme choice.
But for teachers, this is not too surprising. Elementary school teacher Mo Lee (25) said, “Teachers’ pain caused by malicious complaints is taken for granted at school.”
Professor Kim Hyun-soo interpreted the survey as “more in-depth investigation is needed, but it seems to contain public opinion (of teachers).”
Oh Sang-hoon, a professor of psychiatry at Uijeongbu Eulji University Hospital, believes that if collective trauma worsens, school personnel problems may arise. Professor Oh said, “If collective trauma worsens, it will be difficult for teachers to focus on teaching children.
To get out of collective trauma… “Improvement of the legal system is the most important”
Teachers who participated in the ‘Memorial Rally for the 49th Seoi-cho Teachers’ held in front of the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 4th are holding pickets and shouting slogans. Reporter Hwang Jin-hwan and Professor Kim Hyun-soo “To get out of collective trauma, the most important thing is to find out the truth and improve the legal system.”said “Like ‘the deceased was (originally) mentally disturbed’ Infringement of teaching rights should not be regarded as an individual disease“It was highly criticized.
He then pointed out a structure that allows teachers to resolve parent complaints. Professor Kim said, “If a hospital complains to a doctor, the hospital problem service team does not contact the doctor, and the hospital problem service team solves it.”
Professor Baek Jong-woo emphasized that first, they should receive treatment through a mental health specialist, saying, “The shock of the bereaved families and teachers will be great as teachers die one after another.” “Then, you need to diagnose the cause and come up with measures to prevent recurrence,” Baek said.
Professor Baek “People in despair find it difficult to ask for help on their own.”as “People around you need to find out quickly and help”said.
Professor Oh Sang-hoon said, “It is most important to detect and intervene early on people who are experiencing emotional difficulties when collective trauma occurs,” and added, “We need to build an online platform where they can get help quickly.”
Professor Oh emphasized, “We need to educate the public on what collective trauma is and raise awareness,” and “you can get help, and it’s okay to ask for help.”
Meanwhile, after the death of a teacher in Seoi-cho in July, teachers are holding large-scale city rallies every weekend to prevent reports of child abuse that are indiscriminately abused and to ensure teachers’ legitimate educational activities. On the 4th, ‘Public Education Suspension Day’, teachers attended the rally by taking a love leave or sick leave.
※If you need expert help due to depression or other hard-to-talk concerns, call the suicide prevention hotline ☎️1577-0199, Hope Phone ☎️129, Life Phone ☎️1588-9191, Youth Phone ☎️1388, and you can receive expert counseling 24 hours a day. .
2023-09-06 20:20:00
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