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Netflix K-drama Teach You a Lesson: corporal punishment for bullies in alarming school show
Kim Mu-yeol talks to students with his fists as an agent of a Korean government-backed vigilante unit in this series with an unclear message
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Lead cast: Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Sung-min, Jin Ki-joo
This summer, Netflix Korea returns to the evergreen subject of school bullying with Teach You a Lesson, a limited series based on the popular webtoon Get Schooled, which launched in 2020 and remains popular today.
Much like the past hits Weak Hero Class 2 and The Glory, this is a story that mines the vicarious thrill of seeing vicious school bullies receive their just deserts. However, unlike many of its predecessors, Teach You a Lesson does not seek to balance the scales of justice through morally grey acts of vigilantism – it does so through state-sanctioned violence.
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Here, adults with military training are empowered to use violence against children in the name of restoring order, all with a smile and a clear conscience. They are heroes cheered on by victimised students and teachers and backed by government decree.
While not a dystopia per se, the world of Teach You a Lesson depicts a society where violence in schools has reached such a critical point that Choi Gang-seok – the minister of education played by Lee Sung-min (Reborn Rich) – has taken it upon himself to establish the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB).
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