Sejong School Support Division Introduces "Relationship Restoration Reflection Period" for School Violence Cases

From Next Month: Simple Application, Swift Process

Starting next year, the Ministry of Education plans to pilot a “relationship restoration reflection period” for minor incidents among lower-grade elementary school students nationwide. In line with this, the School Support Division of the Sejong City Office of Education (hereafter referred to as the School Support Division) will fully introduce the pilot operation of the “relationship restoration reflection period” for lower-grade elementary school students in the region beginning next month.

This system prioritizes holding a relationship restoration dialogue session before the school violence response committee reviews cases of school violence among lower-grade elementary school students. The committee’s review is postponed until the dialogue session is concluded.

According to the School Support Division on August 20, the initiative aims to move away from punishment-centered approaches and instead provide educational opportunities for recovery, taking into account the developmental characteristics of younger students. The goal is to help children understand the essence of conflicts on their own and consider their friends’ perspectives by giving them a “pause” to learn and grow through healthy relationship building.

In particular, the application process will be simplified, and a specialized mediation support team will be deployed to ensure that the dialogue session is completed within two weeks of receiving a school violence report, prioritizing a prompt and educational resolution.

Lee Mija, head of the School Support Division, stated, “What lower-grade elementary school students need is not punishment, but an opportunity to understand each other’s feelings and to reconnect. We will spare no effort to support schools so that the relationship restoration reflection period can become a stepping stone for children to grow into warmer and wiser members of society.”

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