When teachers bully students: Taiwan schools face challenges tackling such cases

TAIPEI – For months before his suicide in February 2023, a Taiwanese high school student was regularly singled out in class for intrusive body searches and bag checks.

The 16-year-old was also publicly vilified as “trash” and more than once, was forced to take the blame for the wrongdoing of his peers.

The culprits here? Not his classmates, but his teachers at Fengyuan Senior High School.

In February 2024, the school in Taichung, central Taiwan, admitted this in a surprising reversal of its previous findings the year before.

School faculty members reportedly began targeting the teen after discovering that he had once brought a can of beer to school.

The school’s director of student affairs was handed a one-year suspension, while its chief military instructor – school-stationed military personnel akin to discipline masters – was removed from his post. Two other staff involved also resigned.

The case, which has dominated headlines, comes amid a spike in cases of teachers victimizing students, according to data recently released by the Ministry of Education.

It also reflects the challenges in dealing with such cases, which are mainly handled internally and may not be addressed with objectivity, experts say.

“There are very clear systems in place to handle what we call ‘teacher-to-student’ bullying in Taiwan, but they’re very complicated and are imperfect,” said Ms Chiu Ching-hui, head of research at Taiwanese non-profit organization Child Welfare League Foundation.

“Even though it is a requirement for investigation committees to include independent voices, they are outnumbered by people from the school, so there may be cases of faculty protecting faculty,” she added.

According to Taiwanese regulations, each school must form a committee to handle and review every case of bullying within three days of it being reported, whether the perpetrator is a student or a teacher.

The committee is convened by the school principal and must be made up of at least one member each from the teaching staff, school administration, parent’s association, and an independent expert or scholar.

If the committee deems the case to be one of bullying, it will initiate further investigations, which could extend for several more months. The final report is then handed over to the local education bureau, which decides on an appropriate penalty, if necessary, such as a suspension or dismissal.

“Even some of the independent voices in these investigative committees may feel pressure about going too hard on the accused, because the professional teaching community is very small,” said Ms Chiu.