Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Announces 2021 School Violence Survey Results

School Violence Victim Response Rate Lower Than National Average (Nationwide 1.1% · Gwangju 1%)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced the results of the first 2021 school violence survey (commissioned to the Korea Educational Development Institute and the Korea Education and Research Information Service) on the 6th.

This survey expanded participation methods to allow participation via smart devices such as smartphones and tablets, achieving a high participation rate of 87.1%. The results of the school violence survey can be checked by school on the School Information website.

According to the analysis of the first 2021 school violence survey results by the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, the overall school violence victimization rate was 1%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year, and 0.1% lower than the national average of 1.1%.

Compared to the first survey in 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19, it decreased by 0.6 percentage points. Among participating students, 1,148 responded that they had experienced school violence. The victimization response rate among elementary students increased by 0.6 percentage points to 2.5%, middle school students decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 0.4%, and high school students remained the same at 0.1%.

The proportion of victimization by type was ‘verbal violence’ 43.2%, ‘group exclusion and bullying’ 14%, ‘physical assault’ 13.1%, and ‘cyberbullying’ 8.8%, in that order.

Analysis showed that compared to the previous year, ‘verbal violence’ increased by 8 percentage points, ‘physical violence’ by 6.1 percentage points, while ‘group exclusion’ decreased by 12.2 percentage points, and ‘cyberbullying’ by 2.7 percentage points.

The types of perpetrators were ‘classmates in the same class’ at 49.8%, and ‘students from other classes in the same grade’ at 43.5%. Regarding the location of victimization, ‘inside the classroom’ was 21.5%, ‘hallway’ 15.4%, and ‘outside school (parks, playgrounds, alleys, etc.)’ 13.6%, in that order.

The times of victimization were ‘break time’ 24.3%, ‘after school activities end’ 23.7%, and ‘dismissal time’ 16.8%, respectively.

The Metropolitan Office of Education plans to promote the formation of a school culture full of respect and consideration, early detection and proactive response to school violence, and cooperation with the local community based on the ‘School Violence Prevention and Eradication Measures’ announced in August and the analysis results of the school violence survey.

To form a school culture full of respect and consideration and to enhance the substance of school violence prevention education, they plan to link the curriculum with harmony programs. They will strengthen six competencies including empathy, self-esteem, communication, conflict resolution, emotional regulation, and awareness and coping with school violence, and distribute prevention programs linked with cultural arts (musicals, plays, etc.) to schools.

They also plan to raise individual students’ sensitivity to school violence through language culture improvement and school violence prevention campaign activities.

Currently, the school violence survey is conducted as a full survey in the first semester and a sample survey in the second semester, which limits early detection of school violence. To prevent and respond immediately to school violence, they plan to inspect the detection and reporting systems operated at individual schools.

They will establish a school violence prevention and detection system centered on classes, grades, and student councils, and strengthen teacher training on early detection and initial response, as well as school-based surveys.

In particular, the Metropolitan Office of Education plans to develop a ‘Student Life Self-Diagnosis App’ to continuously monitor students’ difficulties in school life and whether they have experienced school violence. Through the ‘Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Psychological Defense Network,’ they plan to support the recovery of students experiencing psychological difficulties due to school life and COVID-19.

They will also strengthen the ‘Bureumi’ system to enhance proactive response and case handling capabilities, and activate relationship recovery, reconciliation, and mediation through the operation of a relationship recovery support group.

Using various media (TV, radio, newspapers, etc.), they plan to promote a social consensus campaign on interest and cooperation among schools, families, and local communities for the prevention and resolution of school violence. They will also hold discussions to create a peaceful school community involving schools, local communities, and related organizations.

Kim Hyung-tae, Director of Democratic Citizenship Education at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “We will thoroughly analyze the school violence survey results to check and supplement any weak links in school violence prevention to ensure no student suffers from school violence,” and added, “We ask for much interest and cooperation from families and local communities to create happy and safe schools.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.