"I Didn't Know"... Increasing Child Sexual Crimes, 'Sex Education in Schools' Remains Stagnant

Increase in Juvenile Sex Offenders Over the Past 3 Years
Establishment of Private Institutions for Systematic Education

Hyun Areum (38), a housewife living in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, has been sending her third-grade elementary school child to a specialized sex education institution for the past month. This decision came after rumors spread about incidents of sexual harassment among classmates in a nearby neighborhood and a series of sex-related incidents at elementary schools, leading her to believe that preventive education was necessary for her child as well. Although the elementary school her child attends conducts mandatory sex education for students, Hyun decided to seek help from a specialized institution based on advice from those around her. She said, "The school also conducts sex education by borrowing time from other subjects, but there is not enough time and the content is insufficient to explain systematically, so I decided to send my child to a specialized institution." She added, "My child attends classes in a small group study with two peers of similar age."

New students who have completed the entrance ceremony at Galsan Elementary School in Seoul are running hand in hand across the schoolyard. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

As youth-perpetrated sex crimes such as rape and molestation steadily increase, more parents are turning to specialized institutions outside of school for their children's sex education. There are calls for systematic school sex education that matches the changed sexual culture of today's youth.

According to the National Police Agency on the 29th, the number of juvenile offenders (aged 14 to under 19) arrested for sex crimes among violent crimes has steadily increased over the past three years (2020-2022), from 2,702 in 2020 to 3,341 in 2021, and 4,614 in 2022. This contrasts with a slight decrease in the total number of juvenile offenders during the same period, from 64,480 to 61,026.

There are criticisms that sex education in schools does not effectively help youth establish a proper understanding of sexuality. Although 10 hours of sex education were mandated in the elementary, middle, and high school curricula in 2001 and expanded to 15 hours in 2013, it has failed to properly reflect the changed sexual culture of youth.

There is no proper standard guideline either. In 2015, the Ministry of Education announced plans to revise the 'School Sex Education Standard' after controversy arose over phrases such as "women should take care of their appearance and men should develop economic abilities." However, the revision remains stalled as of now. Moreover, youth sex education is conducted as a cross-curricular subject without dedicated class time, often integrated into physical education or home economics classes, which increases the likelihood of it being neglected depending on the situation.

Children in the same class are greeting each other at the entrance ceremony held at Galsan Elementary School in Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

This is why parents with pubescent children are turning to specialized institutions for systematic education. Some parents even participate in sex education sessions aimed at parents to educate themselves for their children's benefit. Choi Jin-hwan, CEO of Human Edu, a youth sex education specialist, explained, "In the past, upper-grade elementary students were the majority, but nowadays, many lower-grade students also come. The level of sexual knowledge among elementary students varies greatly, but schools cannot differentiate due to time constraints, making effective teaching difficult in this way."

Experts emphasize the need for systematic sex education to prevent youth sex crimes. Professor Cho Sang-sik of Dongguk University's Department of Education said, "Appropriate sex education helps children understand the healthiness and abnormality of sexual behaviors, through which they can learn how to protect themselves." He added, "As our society becomes Westernized and more open, today's children differ significantly from previous generations in terms of curiosity, practice, and experiential aspects of sexuality, yet we still approach this with outdated methods. Instead of approaching from the perspective of previous generations, a bold social consensus is needed to address taboo areas in a way that fits the changed times."

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