Students tossing and catching bean bags [Provided by Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union/Yonhap]
Students tossing and catching bean bags [Provided by Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union/Yonhap]

A parent whose child was injured during a bean-bag tossing activity in an elementary school classroom filed a criminal complaint against the teacher two years after the incident.

According to education circles Tuesday, the parent, identified only as A, filed a complaint with police in June against B, who had served as the child's homeroom teacher at an elementary school in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, on charges of professional negligence causing bodily injury. B was recently questioned by police.

In the complaint, A said the child — then a fourth-grader — slipped and fell during a classroom bean-bag tossing activity in June 2024. The student received more than six weeks of treatment for a kneecap dislocation and other injuries, and A said the child continues to experience recurring pain, swelling and numbness.

A argued that students wearing only socks on the classroom floor faced a risk of slipping, and that throwing and catching bean bags created additional hazards involving landing and balance. A said B had directed students to carry out a dangerous activity in an unsafe environment without fulfilling a duty of care to protect their safety.

Bean bags are small cloth pouches filled with beans or plastic pellets used as play equipment. At the time of the accident, students under B's supervision were tossing the bags upward toward the ceiling and catching them — part of a light warm-up routine known as a "morning opening" activity conducted before regular classes began.

B, who retired from full-time teaching in 2020, was working as a part-time instructor and was temporarily in charge of the class at the time of the accident.

B rebuffed the criminal complaint, calling the incident "an unforeseeable, sudden and accidental occurrence" and saying there had been "no neglect of supervisory duty of care."

B also said the bean-bag activity had been conducted school-wide for all grade levels for seven to eight minutes before the 9 a.m. class start each day, and that it was an activity promoted in connection with children's physical and motor development at training sessions organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

B said students had been told to toss the bags no higher than 30 centimeters and that the classroom floor had not been slippery at the time. On the child's lingering symptoms, B said, "I understand the student participated in a marathon last year."

Teachers have expressed deep concern that the criminal complaint could further chill classroom activities.

Hyeon Gyeong-hui, a spokesperson for the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, said that if safety accidents occurring during educational activities in which teachers have shown no intent or negligence lead to criminal complaints, "teachers will find it difficult to carry out normal educational activities for fear of punishment," adding, "Ultimately, it will be the students who suffer."

She urged authorities to reform the system so that Article 268 of the Criminal Act — which covers professional negligence causing death or injury — does not apply to safety accidents that occur during normal educational activities.


bbo@heraldcorp.com