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The Seoul High Court has ruled that students who bully their classmates, as well as their parents and the schools they attend, are liable for damages to the victims.
In a suit brought by a 19-year-old identified as Yu and his parents against his tormentors, their parents and Gyeonggi Province, the High Court's civil division awarded damages against each defendant of W110 million for Yu and W7 million for his parents.
The bench ruled that while Yu, who had trouble adapting to school, might have suffered schoolyard abuse unbeknownst to school officials, the principal and teachers still had a duty to prevent such incidents. It also ruled that Gyeonggi province, which employs the teachers, had a duty of care for Yu. It added that the parents of the culprits were guilty of having failed to protect and guide their children.
In 1999 Yu, then a member of the bicycle club of a middle school in Gyeonggi province, was repeatedly beaten by his seniors and classmates who felt he was too slow intellectually to follow bike practice. As a result, Yu began experiencing auditory hallucinations and suffered from extreme insecurity and speech defects.
(Shin Eun-jin, momof@chosun.com )
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