The number of elementary, middle, and high school students reporting they have experienced or witnessed school violence has steadily increased over the last five years, according to recent data. Notably, the rate of students reporting witnessing school violence has nearly tripled, rising from the 2% range in 2020 to 6.7% this year. The overall rate of students reporting experiencing school violence reached 2.9% in the latest survey, a 0.4 percentage point increase from the previous year and the highest level in five years.
Key Findings from the 2024 School Violence Survey
The survey, conducted from April 14 to May 13, involved approximately 3.19 million students from fourth grade elementary through third grade high school. The findings indicate that elementary school students reported the highest victim rate at 5.7%, followed by middle school students at 2.3%, and high school students at 0.8%.
When categorized by the type of violence experienced, verbal abuse was the most prevalent form, accounting for 37.8% of reported incidents. Other significant categories included group taunting (17.1%), physical violence (15.7%), and cyberbullying (7.0%). Compared to the previous year, the proportion of verbal abuse and cyberbullying decreased by 1.2 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively. Conversely, group taunting and physical violence saw increases of 0.7 and 1.1 percentage points.
Surge in Witnessing School Violence
The number of students who reported witnessing school violence also saw a substantial rise. The witness response rate climbed to 6.7% this year, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the previous year. This figure has been on an upward trend since 2020, when it stood at 2.28%, progressing to 2.3% in 2021, 3.8% in 2022, 4.6% in 2023, 5.0% in 2024, and 6.1% last year, before reaching the current 6.7%.
Breaking this down by grade level, the witness rate was particularly high among elementary school students, reaching 11.0%. Middle school students reported a 6.8% witness rate, while high school students reported 2.6%.
Addressing Misreporting and New Forms of Violence
The Ministry of Education noted that increased sensitivity to school violence among students and parents has led to an rise in everyday student conflicts being reported as school violence incidents. Last year, the number of school violence reports submitted to the Office of Education decreased to 56,880, but the proportion of these cases that proceeded to formal investigation increased to 51.7%. Furthermore, the rate of cases determined not to be school violence after investigation rose to 22.1%.
Feedback gathered from students, educators, and members of school violence response committees indicated that many incidents escalate from playful interactions. However, new forms of school violence, such as ‘yacharul’ and ‘sparring,’ have recently emerged.
Understanding ‘Yacharul’ and ‘Sparring’
‘Yacharul’ refers to unorganized, bare-knuckle fights without specific locations or protective gear, becoming prevalent among adolescents. Videos of these fights are being circulated online.
‘Sparring’, in this context, appears to describe a similar phenomenon, potentially involving staged fights. A concerning trend involves older or influential students inciting two other students to fight and then filming the event for online distribution.
Government Response and Future Initiatives
In response to these evolving threats, the Ministry of Education stated it would strengthen cooperation with local education offices to rigorously investigate and take swift action against severe acts of violence, including these new forms of school bullying. The ministry plans to move beyond basic reporting and information-providing preventive education.
Future initiatives include developing and distributing educational materials tailored to each grade level, focusing on practical response skills such as conflict resolution and self-defense. Starting in the second semester of this year, the ministry will also expand experiential and practical preventive education models, centered around the ‘School Violence Prevention ‘Gathering More’ Middle School’ program.
Shim Min-cheol, Director of the Student Health and Safety Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Education, emphasized the commitment to implementing effective preventive education that builds students’ capacity to handle real-life conflicts and promoting educational resolutions focused on relationship restoration. He added that the ministry would maintain close collaboration with relevant agencies, including the police, to ensure rapid responses to emerging school violence incidents.
