First Full Survey This Year, Second Sample Survey Last Year
Increase of 0.1%P This Year, 0.2%P Last Year
Verbal Abuse Highest, Increase in Group Bullying and Other Rates
Ministry of Education "Will Announce Early in the Future"
The proportion of students who experienced school violence in elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide increased both last year and this year. In particular, the victim response rate in elementary schools was the highest ever in this year's full survey. The rates increased in both surveys for types such as group bullying, sexual violence, and extortion.
On the 25th, the Ministry of Education announced the results of last year's second school violence survey (sample survey) and this year's first school violence survey (full survey), conducted by 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide.
The school violence survey is conducted at least twice a year by the superintendent of education to understand the actual situation of school violence and to establish effective prevention measures, as stipulated in Article 11 of the "Act on the Prevention and Countermeasures against School Violence," and the results must be disclosed.
In this year's first full survey, which involved 3.98 million participants (grades 4 to 12), the victim response rate (1.7%) rose by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. In last year's sample survey, which involved about 190,000 participants (grades 4 to 11), the victim response rate was 2.1%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous year.
However, looking at the trend over the past three years, the increase in the victim response rate has slowed down compared to immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.
By school level, the victim response rates in this year's first survey were 4.2% for elementary schools, 1.6% for middle schools, and 0.5% for high schools, increasing by 0.3, 0.3, and 0.1 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year. In last year's second survey, the rates were 3.0% for elementary schools, 1.2% for middle schools, and 0.4% for high schools, rising by 0.1, 0.2, and 0.1 percentage points respectively from the previous year.
Notably, the victim response rate in elementary schools in this year's first survey reached a record high of 4.2%. The number of victims (411,000) was lower than in 2019 (455,000). The victim response rate surged from 2.5% in 2021, immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, to 3.8% in 2022.
By type of victimization, 'verbal violence' showed the highest response rate. Although it decreased in last year's sample survey, it increased by 2.3 percentage points in this year's first survey compared to the previous year. In particular, the proportions of group bullying, sexual violence, and extortion increased in both last year's and this year's surveys.
In this year's first survey, the witness response rate was 5.0%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. In last year's second survey, the witness response rate was 4.9%, also increasing by 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. Responses indicating that victims reported or notified about the incidents and that witnesses informed or helped after witnessing increased in both last year and this year. The rate of bystanders ignoring school violence also decreased.
The perpetrator response rate in this year's first survey was 1.0%, the same as the previous year. In last year's second survey, the perpetrator response rate slightly increased compared to the previous year.
Effective prevention education methods as perceived by students were ranked as follows: 'education programs or activities on empathy, communication, and emotional regulation' (26.6%), 'student participation activities (campaigns, clubs, etc.)' (25.4%), and 'watching broadcasts, videos, or clips' (22.3%).
Sung Yoon-sook, senior research fellow at the Korea Youth Policy Institute, stated, "As school violence has emerged as a social issue, sensitivity toward school violence seems to have increased." She added, "Especially for elementary school students, preventive education that focuses on resolving conflicts in daily life educationally and restoring relationships is necessary."
Earlier, the Ministry of Education had planned to announce the results of last year's second school violence survey on July 31 but suddenly postponed the announcement on the 26th. Originally scheduled for release in the first half of this year, the announcement was indefinitely delayed and was eventually released together with this year's first full survey. Regarding this, a Ministry of Education official said, "The results of last year's second survey should have been announced earlier, and since this year's results were also delayed, the two announcements were made together, causing confusion." He added, "In the future, we will announce each survey's results early before the next semester begins."
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