Jang Jaesung, Gwangju City Council Member, "Education Office Must Develop Effective Measures Against School Violence"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] There have been calls for the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education to establish practical and effective measures to address school and cyber violence.

According to the "School Violence Survey Results" submitted to the Gwangju Metropolitan Council by Councilor Jang Jaesung on the 13th, the overall responses from elementary, middle, and high school students who participated in the survey indicated an increase in experiences of both victimization and perpetration of school violence.

Among the respondents, the victimization rate was 1.0%, which is a 0.1 percentage point increase compared to the 2020 survey, while the perpetration rate was 0.4%, a 0.3 percentage point increase from 2020.

Analyzing the "School Violence Victimization Type Ratio" data, Councilor Jang found that compared to last year, extortion of money or goods, forced errands, group exclusion and bullying, and harassment via cyber or mobile phones decreased, but physical assault (up 6.1 percentage points), verbal abuse (up 8 percentage points), forced molestation and sexual violence (up 0.9 percentage points), and stalking (up 0.1 percentage points) increased.

According to the School Violence Prevention Act, education for students to prevent school violence must be conducted at least once per semester. In the Gwangju area, 257.81 minutes have been invested in school violence prevention, yet the number of students victimized by school violence continues to rise.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education operates six Wee Centers and related counseling institutions, which provide assistance when school violence incidents involving students occur, either through dedicated departments or specialized agencies established under the School Violence Prevention Act or via entrusted organizations.

Councilor Jang stated, “There are cases where victimized students, although seeking counseling, find it difficult because they do not want to encounter the perpetrators but have to face them at these centers. There is a need for institutions that can help victimized students feel safe and comfortable, not only for counseling but also to support recovery during the healing process.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, with reduced in-person classes and the shift to remote learning, students’ living spaces have moved online, raising concerns that stress and depression in non-face-to-face situations may manifest as cyber violence and stalking through social media.

Teachers and schools face greater challenges in initially responding to cyber violence compared to other types of school violence.

Regarding cyber violence, there are limitations in investigations conducted by teachers who are neither police nor cyber experts. Students proficient in cyber environments often swiftly erase evidence early on, and incidents tend to become covert, making it difficult for teachers and schools to respond and manage these cases effectively.

In response, there have been calls from the field to deploy cyber school violence counseling specialists. Most experts working in related institutions specialize in school violence or sexual violence counseling, but there is a shortage of cyber school violence counselors, resulting in inadequate professional counseling, investigation, school support, and teacher training for students involved in cyber school violence.

Councilor Jang emphasized, “To specialize in case handling, experts who can provide specific understanding and assistance regarding cyber violence should be assigned to dedicated departments and specialized agencies within the Metropolitan Office of Education. Regular training should be conducted to enhance the understanding of cyber violence among counseling and healing institutions as well as school personnel.” He added, “Sharing counseling cases is necessary to build capacity for responding to cyber violence.”

He continued, “Currently, the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education has a response manual for school violence but lacks a separate manual for cyber violence. There is no specific guidance on how teachers and schools should respond to cyber violence incidents or the methods and procedures for protecting victims and taking action against perpetrators. Instead, cyber violence is addressed in the same way as other types of school violence.”

Furthermore, he noted, “Even when incidents such as school Me Too movements or school violence occur, schools tend to conceal or cover them up due to concerns about personnel disadvantages or damaging the school's reputation. Reports are often made only after a considerable delay following an unfortunate incident, indicating problems in the reporting system.” He added, “Rather than concealing or downplaying school violence, it should be used as an opportunity to prevent and eradicate school violence.”

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