South Korean TV series The Glory, which tells the story of a woman who devoted her life to taking revenge on classmates who had tormented her at school, has been popular on Netflix, but reality is often crueler than the scenes played out in fiction.
For example, the suicide of a student in Taichung has caused an uproar after reports that he was bullied.
The big issue behind the incident is the incomplete withdrawal of military instructors from campuses, and a lack of standards governing the behavior of teachers and school military officers, who have been accused of abusing their power to inflict emotional harm on students.
Seven senior faculty members were temporarily suspended from the student’s school on Friday last week pending an investigation of the incident.
Military instructors are a byproduct of past autocratic rule under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and have become the tools of school authorities to monitor student behavior and attitudes.
There are good instructors and bad instructors. The bad ones tend to subject students to corporal punishment or verbal abuse. In the Taichung incident, they became accomplices to bullying.
Those who support military officers on campuses say that they help with order and safety.
However, if maintaining campus order comes at the expense of the mental health of students — or even their lives — it contravenes the spirit of education, which should be centered on student welfare.
The Legislative Yuan in 2013 passed a resolution to phase out military instructors from schools within eight years, so the Ministry of Education should make sure the policy is implemented fully to prevent a bad legacy from undermining education providers.
Moreover, teachers, principals and other education workers are rarely dismissed, even if they commit atrocious acts such as malicious accusations and pressuring students to drop out, which is what was reported to have happened in the Taichung incident.
Absolute power when left unchecked would only corrupt people, allowing them to double their ability to harm others.
The ministry should promulgate standards and penalties governing inadequate behavior of educators, such as if they are accused of bullying and an investigation upholds the accusation, they should be dismissed, along with those who helped with any cover-up.
The rules should also make sure that if a teacher is found guilty of sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual bullying of a student, they are deprived of their pension. The same principle should also be applied to those who are found guilty of bullying to set an example.
The protagonist in The Glory sought revenge on her former classmates as an adult, but the Taichung student died before he had a chance to grow up. To break apart the power inequality in the education system and prevent further psychological trauma, it is crucial that the ministry implement the removal of military instructors from schools, and establish standards and penalties governing the misconduct of faculty.
Wang Yu-pei is a civil servant.
Translated by Rita Wang
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