As news of the production of the drama 'The elementary school student I love,' centered around the feelings between a female elementary school teacher and her student, was announced, strong backlash arose within the education sector, leading to a decision to halt production just a week after the controversy began. The public is strongly criticizing this matter, saying, "I cannot understand how they attempted to dramatize this at all," and "This is neither art nor creation, but a clear glorification of a crime."
The controversial work is based on a webtoon of the same name that was serialized from 2015 to 2020. It tells the story of an elementary school teacher, Im Cheong-ah, who develops feelings for a male character she meets in an online game after breaking up with her boyfriend, only to discover that he is her elementary school student.
However, as concerns from the education sector about "a setting that fundamentally shakes the educational field" and "content sexualizing children" increased, the production company, Meta New Line, stated on the 4th, "We sincerely accept the social concerns raised recently and will halt the planning and production of the drama."
Previously, the education sector expressed anger, stating, "This is not creation, but a glorification of a crime," and major organizations in the education sector, including the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, unanimously voiced their criticism regarding this issue.
On the 1st, the KFTA defined, "Teachers are people who engage in education based on trust with students. The narrative of sharing personal feelings with a minor student using one's position is clearly not a simple romance but a glorification of grooming crimes." They further stated, "If such a drama is aired, it could diminish awareness of child sex crimes in reality and could cause psychological and emotional harm to child actors. Exposing children to danger for commercial profit is another form of violence."
On the 2nd, the elementary school committee of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union also pointed out, "Elementary school teachers nationwide are engulfed in shock and anger," emphasizing that "This content undermines the ethics between teachers and students and the principle of child protection, trivializing the educational field." They especially warned, "The emotional lines of 'excitement' or 'comfort' that emerge between an adult teacher and an elementary school student can be misinterpreted as romance and are a dangerous attempt to normalize or glorify inappropriate relationships."
Public reaction was also cold. There were responses saying, "The planning itself was the problem." Even immediately after the news of the halt in production was announced, there were cynical reactions online, questioning, "How did such a plan even pass in the first place?" and "The act of trivializing the boundaries between teachers and students in the name of content." Internet users gathered to say, "The drama has been halted, but the fact that such a plan existed is shocking," "Unconditional freedom of creation must not infringe on children's rights and ethics," and "Thorough guidelines are needed to prevent such occurrences in other contents."
In particular, KFTA President Kang Joo-ho warned, "Distorting the trust between teachers and students into a source of entertainment is an act of trivializing education, and the damage will return directly to students and teachers in the field," emphasizing that a standard of ethics in content creation for protecting children and adolescents is urgently needed due to this controversy.
This incident left a deeper topic beyond a simple content controversy, balancing freedom of creation and protection of children's rights, as well as rebuilding trust in education. Most importantly, what is vital is that society as a whole must have ethical sensitivity and a sense of responsibility to ensure that such controversies do not happen again.
Meanwhile, as Meta New Line declared the halt in production, they promised to create more responsible content in the future, indicating that genuine reflection and improvement should follow from this controversy.
[Photo] Source of the original webtoon.
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