An Analysis of the Factual Effectiveness of the “Notice on Student Life Guidance by Teachers” in Elementary School Homeroom Teachers’ Student Life Guidance

The purpose of this study is to analyze the 'factual effectiveness' of the “Notice on Student Life Guidance by Teachers” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), enacted in 2023, within the life guidance field of elementary school homeroom teachers. To this end, this paper systematically examines the factual effectiveness of the “Notice” by categorizing it into two dimensions: “objective effectiveness,” which pertains to the formal existence and hierarchy of the law, and “substantial effectiveness,” which refers to the substantive content. The results of the analysis are as follows: First, in terms of objective effectiveness, the “Notice,” as an administrative rule, entails a risk of undermining legal stability in the process of specifying the vague emotional abuse provisions of the superior “Child Welfare Act.” However, the provisions prohibiting the use of mobile phones, which previously had the potential to violate the principle of statutory reservation, have seen their objective effectiveness strengthened as the recent amendment to the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act” established a clear legal basis. Second, in terms of substantial effectiveness, the study confirms that the system is experiencing distorted implementation due to the absence of human and physical infrastructure for separation measures. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that indiscriminate child abuse reports and malicious complaints are effectively neutralizing legitimate guidance authority. In conclusion, the current “Notice” grants nominal authority to elementary school homeroom teachers but remains limited as it fails to provide the practical means and legal safeguards necessary to support such authority. Accordingly, as alternatives to enhance 'factual effectiveness', this study suggests: amending the emotional abuse provisions of the “Child Welfare Act,” establishing dedicated personnel and designated spaces for separated guidance, and building an effective judicial protection system to counter malicious reports.