4.7% of Elementary Students in Gyeongbuk Experienced School Violence... Gyeongbuk Office of Education Surveys 170,000 Students in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools

1.1% of Middle School Students, 0.4% of High School Students

Joint Survey of 16 Cities and Provinces Nationwide

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education announced on the 15th the results of a school violence survey (a full survey) conducted over four weeks from April 10 to May 10, targeting elementary, middle, and high school students (grades 4 to 12).

This survey was jointly conducted by 16 metropolitan and provincial offices nationwide, excluding Jeonnam, to support the establishment of measures for the prevention and response to school violence through an investigation of experiences witnessing, being victimized by, or perpetrating school violence from the second semester of 2022 to the time of the 2023 survey participation.

Gyeongbuk Office of Education.

In Gyeongbuk, 173,927 students, accounting for 90.1% of the 193,159 target students from 4th grade elementary to 12th grade high school, participated in the survey, recording a participation rate higher than the national average of 82.6%.

The victimization response rate of Gyeongbuk students was 2.0% on average, 0.1 percentage points higher than the national average of 1.9%. By school level, the rates were 4.7% for elementary students, 1.1% for middle school students, and 0.4% for high school students, showing increases of 0.3, 0.3, and 0.2 percentage points respectively compared to last year.

The higher victimization response rate among elementary students is analyzed to be due to increased sensitivity to school violence, where even minor conflicts or quarrels are perceived as school violence, indicating the need for tailored prevention measures by school level.

The types of school violence experienced (multiple responses allowed) were verbal violence (36.6%), physical violence (16.6%), group bullying (15.0%), coercion (7.6%), cyber violence (6.5%), stalking (6.0%), sexual violence (5.5%), and extortion (5.2%) in that order.

Compared to last year, physical violence increased by 3.1 percentage points, coercion by 2.6 points, group bullying by 1.2 points, sexual violence by 0.8 points, and stalking by 0.2 points, while verbal violence decreased by 4.3 points, cyber violence by 2.9 points, and extortion by 0.7 points.

Based on the results of this school violence survey, the Gyeongbuk Office of Education plans to expand social-emotional programs centered on character education to foster a culture of empathy where students consider and communicate with each other, and strengthen school violence prevention education in elementary schools reflecting the trend of younger age groups involved in school violence.

Additionally, it plans to incorporate the current status of school violence occurrences and trends by school level and type into prevention measures, and strengthen school-tailored prevention education such as language culture improvement week, cyber violence prevention week, and support for student-led club activities.

Furthermore, it will continue active cooperation with the Gyeongbuk Police Agency through special training for School Police Officers (SPO) Dream Teams and operation of youth police schools.

Lim Jong-sik, Superintendent of Gyeongbuk Office of Education, stated, “We will establish effective and sustainable prevention measures reflecting the analysis of the school violence survey,” and added, “We will do our best to eradicate school violence by strengthening the response capabilities of schools, education support offices, and related agencies.”

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