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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-10/south-korea-seoul-teacher-suicide-school-pressure/104047386>
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WARNING: This article contains references to mental health and suicide.
After battling abusive and demeaning parents for months, graduate primary
school teacher Oh* had been trying to put on a brave face.
"I am a good and strong person," she wrote in her diary early last year.
"Someone will recognise your amazingness.
"I am a good and strong person," she repeated, twice more.
A month later, the 26-year-old took her own life.
She died within a year of landing her first full-time teaching job, becoming
another grim statistic in the high number of teacher suicides that have plagued
South Korea.
Her grieving father, Oh Jae Geun, is furious at her school, saying they failed
to support the budding, young teacher.
"Recalling these memories is extremely difficult," he says, as he examines his
daughter's diary.
"When I'm alone, I start thinking about these memories again, which is
tormenting.
"Even when I sleep, if it's quiet, thoughts come to mind, so I just leave the
TV on and sleep with that noise. It's difficult when I'm alone. I have some
noise playing all the time."
Oh's job seemed like a lucky break; she was a late replacement for a teacher
that had taken leave.
But when the parents of her students found out she was inexperienced, they
began scrutinising her performance ruthlessly.
"The parents don't like new teachers, so the vice-principal didn't tell them,"
Jae Geun said.
Oh received messages from parents at all sorts of hours — when she was out
having dinner with friends, even while she was on holiday.
When she tried to break up a fight between two students, parents decided she
had managed the situation poorly.
"They kept calling our daughter, saying things like, 'You'll never be able to
teach again,'" Jae Geun said.
Some went even further.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
