Child Falls from Playground Equipment While Being Supervised by Another Child... Court Rules "Teacher's License Suspension Justified"

A court ruling has determined that it was justified to impose a three-month suspension of qualifications on a childcare teacher after a child was injured from falling off playground equipment while the teacher was caring for other children.

Seoul Administrative Court.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 12 (Chief Judge Kang Jaewon) ruled against childcare teacher A in a lawsuit seeking to cancel the suspension of qualifications imposed by the Geumcheon District Office of Seoul.

A worked as a childcare teacher at a daycare center in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. In February 2022, B, a 5-year-old child enrolled at the center, fell from playground equipment installed at a nearby playground and sustained injuries requiring 12 weeks of medical treatment. In November of the same year, the Geumcheon District Office imposed a three-month suspension of A’s childcare teacher qualifications, citing negligence in safety protection that caused physical, mental, or life harm to the young child.

A argued, “The reason I did not notice B using the playground equipment was because I was attending to other children at the time,” and “Even though I warned the children not to use the playground equipment alone, B disobeyed. Considering this, my negligence does not amount to serious fault, so the grounds for the disciplinary action are not valid.”

However, the court did not accept A’s claims. The court stated, “Young children lack the attention of adults and have strong curiosity, which increases the risk of safety accidents,” and “As a childcare teacher entrusted by guardians, A must carefully observe the behavior of young children and make efforts to prevent accidents.”

The court also noted, “It appears the accident occurred while A was watching another child who slipped while swinging,” but added, “Since the swing’s location and the playground equipment involved in this incident are close, if A had paid just a little more attention, the injury to B could have been avoided. Therefore, it is reasonable to find that the degree of breach of duty of care was significant.”