Controversy Over the 2019 Film 'We Are Pingpong Family'
Webtoon artist Ju Homin is at the center of controversy after reporting a special education teacher at an elementary school on charges of abusing his autistic son, while Ju's wife Han Suja's past webtoon depicting the challenges of raising an autistic child is gaining renewed attention.
On the 27th, several online communities shared screenshots from Han's 2019 webtoon "We Are the Pingpong Family," drawing public interest. The webtoon focuses on the reflections of parents raising a child with developmental disabilities named "Han Gyeom."
The episode currently under scrutiny is episode 4, which depicts an incident where Han Gyeom slapped a peer he was meeting for the first time. Despite the victim child's mother repeatedly expressing anger even after an apology, the slapped child is portrayed as not accepting the apology and looking away with hands in pockets. The situation is only resolved after the victim child's mother leaves the scene.
Afterward, the father comforts his wife, saying, "It's not our fault if they keep getting angry even after we apologized and explained this much." The wife breaks into tears, saying, "Thank you. For saying 'our'."
Some netizens criticized this scene, pointing out that it portrays the parent protesting their child being slapped as a "villain."
Episode 9, which deals with concerns about homeschooling, also sparked controversy. Han Gyeom's parents worry that studying at a special school might isolate him from society. They describe admission as "like picking stars from the sky." While they admire alternative schools for teaching knowledge and skills necessary for life, they worry that the freedom might be overwhelming for the child.
In particular, the part about homeschooling where Han Suja writes, "As a mother, I make mistakes every day and have severe ups and downs, so becoming a teacher too?I have no confidence," provoked anger among netizens. Despite understanding the difficulties of educating autistic children, Ju Homin and his wife are accused of imposing strict standards on the special education teacher and filing a complaint.
Earlier, Ju revealed that he reported the special education teacher who was teaching his son with autism spectrum disorder on charges of child abuse in September last year, which sparked controversy and led to a public statement.
On the 26th, Ju posted on his SNS account, "The recording (of the class time) contained situations that are hard to see as simple discipline," and added, "Emotional child abuse is difficult for the education office to judge and replace the teacher on its own, and action can only be taken based on the results of a judicial investigation, so we requested an investigation."
Ju's son was separated into a special class last September after exposing parts of his body in front of female students during a class with non-disabled peers.
The teacher was suspended from duty, and the trial has been ongoing since December last year. Fellow teachers and parents have submitted petitions to the court in support of the teacher.
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