[News Terms] 'School Bell' Issued Amid Rapid Increase in Youth Drug Crimes

'School Bell' is a program introduced to promptly inform students, parents, and teachers about new types of school violence that differ from the past, in order to proactively prevent school violence. The name 'School Bell' was selected through a contest involving students and School Police Officers (SPO), meaning 'When the school bell rings, students, parents, and teachers all pay attention.'

Recently, new types of school violence spreading through social networking services (SNS) are diverse. Representative examples include 'deepfake,' where images of other students or parents are synthesized and shared or mocked; 'KakaoTalk account hijacking,' where someone changes the password of another person's KakaoTalk account and sells it to a third party for money; forced TikTok sign-ups and video watching; 'KakaoTalk jail,' which prevents users from leaving group chats; and 'online grooming' aimed at sexual purposes.

School Bell Poster.
Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency began operating the School Bell program on November 15, 2021. The School Bell task force (TF) team, composed of officials from the education office and police agency, selects cases of school violence that need to be rapidly disseminated from various cases confirmed through the education office, the 117 reporting center, and SPO activities. These cases are then produced into card news and posters and shared online and offline every two months with students, parents, and teachers.

Each school also provides guidance to students and parents through online homepages and newsletters. The police use School Bell materials as promotional resources for SPOs and have opened a KakaoTalk channel called 'School Bell' for rapid communication and promotion.

On the 10th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued Emergency School Bell No. 2, stating that it will operate a 'Focused Prevention Period for Drug Crimes Targeting Youth' to proactively block drug-related crimes targeting youth, following a recent drug tasting incident in the Gangnam academy district. This is the second emergency School Bell after Emergency School Bell No. 1, which was issued on the 6th to prohibit drug beverage consumption and request reporting. Emergency School Bell No. 2, disseminated to 1,407 elementary, middle, and high schools and 830,000 parents across Seoul, includes specific information on identifying drug beverages, how to respond, and reporting methods.