A teacher surnamed Lee (李) at Taichung City’s Municipal Chu-Jen Junior High School has been ordered to pay compensation to a male student surnamed Ho (何) after pinching the student’s cheek and spanking him a total of 108 times in front of other students.
Ruling that the case warranted national compensation, the Taiwan High Court’s Taichung Branch ordered the school to pay for the student’s medical fees in addition to a compensation payment of more than NT$300,000 (US$9,795).
In addition, the Taichung City Government’s Department of Social Affairs fined the teacher NT$60,000 under the Children and Youth Welfare Act (兒童及少年福利法).
According to the ruling, Lee, a grade nine teacher, met Ho on Oct. 9 last year off school -premises and ordered him to tuck his shirt in and tidy up his uniform. Lee then allegedly pinched Ho’s cheek. The next day, at school, Lee allegedly made the student stand on a stage in front of other pupils and spanked him with a wooden stick — 108 times, according to the students who witnessed the spanking.
When Ho returned home after school, he was in pain and could not sleep that night. He was sent to Taichung Hospital for treatment.
It is understood that the parents of the boy accepted that teachers should be allowed to punish pupils so long as it was appropriate, but that in this case, the teacher had gone too far. Because of the severity of the bruising and the resultant physical and psychological harm, the parents requested the school to pay the NT$4,500 in medical fees and NT$2 million in compensation. The school authorities only agreed to give a compensation payment of NT$50,000.
Despite the teacher’s apology for his actions and a note of the incident added to his record, Ho’s parents appealed to the Taichung District Court. The ruling of the court in the first instance ordered the school to pay NT$302,134. After both parties appealed, the case was sent to the Taiwan High Court’s Taichung Branch, which upheld the Taichung District Court ruling.
Chang Yung-tsung (張永宗), the principal at Chu-Jen, said the teachers at the school have since received instruction on the seriousness of corporal punishment and a blanket ban on the practice has been imposed.
Zhang said Lee had not raised a hand against a child since and that a review showed his performance was exemplary.
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