Blocking Access to 'Information and Communication Networks' for Secondary School Violence Victimization

Amendment to School Violence Prevention Act Includes Prohibition of Contact via SNS; Transfer Measures for Perpetrators Retained in Student Records for 2 Years After Graduation
One-Stop Online System App Established for Immediate Student Reporting and Assistance Requests
Introduction of Student Video Counseling Service and Development of Metaverse Platform Prevention Education

On the 24th, the 18th School Violence Countermeasures Committee meeting was held at the Government Seoul Office.

The government is pushing to amend the School Violence Prevention Act to prevent students who commit school violence from approaching victims through information and communication networks such as SNS or mobile phones.

On the 24th, the government held the 18th School Violence Countermeasures Committee meeting at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. The School Violence Countermeasures Committee is a committee under the Prime Minister that deliberates on matters related to school violence, and at this meeting, they shared the 2022 implementation plan and other details.

Recently, as school violence has increasingly involved cyber violence in addition to physical violence, occurring both online and offline in a complex manner, the need to improve the cyber violence response system has grown. Accordingly, they are promoting a plan to include online approaches in Article 17, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the School Violence Prevention Act (prohibition of contact, threats, and retaliation against victims).

Measures to record offending students in the student record will be made more effective. If an offending student is transferred, the system that deletes the record from the student file upon graduation will be abolished, and the record will be preserved for two years after graduation. For measures 4 (community service), 5 (special education completion), and 6 (suspension), during the review process on whether to delete the record upon graduation, a procedure will be conducted to hear the extent of relationship restoration with the victim. During the review, it will be guided to strictly examine objective evidence such as certificates of service or special education completion, homeroom teacher’s opinion letters, victim’s opinions and evidence, and in-depth counseling cards.

A 'Student Protection One-Stop Online System App' will also be established to immediately protect and allow reporting by students exposed to school violence. Students can report anonymously anytime and anywhere, and in urgent situations such as school violence or child abuse, they can request 'emergency help,' which will identify their location via GPS and send it to the homeroom teacher or police for immediate support.

Additionally, in response to the COVID-19 situation, a student video counseling service (Lan-sun Wi-Class) that allows non-face-to-face counseling will be fully implemented. Educational tools for prevention education using a metaverse platform will also be developed and distributed so that students can participate remotely in school violence prevention education. The Ministry of Education plans to distribute a ‘School Violence Handling Stage-by-Stage Victim Customized Protection and Support Model’ that comprehensively supports victims within the first half of the year.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, "School violence is no longer a problem that can be solved solely through guidance at the individual school level; schools, families, the government, and local communities must work together and unite their efforts."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye said, "To respond to the rapidly changing recent patterns of school violence both online and offline, we will strive to prepare policies flexibly and promptly."

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