Translated by SOORIN KIM(voluntarily activist)
Violence in school has been
around for some time, but it is only worsening. In fact, it has become so
widespread that it has its own slang, such as “wangdda” (outcast) and “iljin”
(bully). But students – not just the bullies but also their victims – have
become numb to the problem.
School bullying has become
prevalent to the extent that students consider it a natural part of their
school life. The society has grown used to the occasional news about victims
committing suicide.
People were appalled
recently when a boy in Daegu who had been suffering school violence ended his
own life by jumping off from his 16-floor apartment. They were stunned again
when it was reported that some of the bullies went so far as to rob the store
run by the victim’s parents. The shock however, did not last.
President Lee Myng-bak and
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho met with parents, students and school authorities
to discuss eradicating school violence. Were such a meeting enough to stop
school violence, the tragedy would not have happened in the first place. So we
ask, how has the government been dealing with this aggravating problem of
bullying?
We requested the Education ministry’s accounts of the current situation
concerning school
violence and handling of it.
1. Actions by the Autonomous School Committee
Against Bullying.
|
|
|
cases of review |
number of assailant |
number of victim |
|
2009 |
elementary school |
151 |
325 |
273 |
|
middle school |
3846 |
10627 |
9030 |
|
|
high school |
2608 |
3653 |
2405 |
|
|
2010 |
elementary school |
231 |
657 |
294 |
|
middle school |
5376 |
14179 |
10363 |
|
|
high school |
2216 |
5113 |
3091 |
The number of cases of bullying in primary, middle and
high schools increased by about 18 percent from 6,605 in 2009 to 7,823 in 2010.
The committee punished the assailants
mostly with penalties, such as cleaning the school restrooms. It also required
them to go through a special educational program designed to prevent school
violence. The victims were provided with counseling.
2. Types of violence reported by the committee
<year 2009>
|
Category |
Review cases |
Number of incidents |
Number of assailants imposed penalty by the committee |
|
injury |
240 |
366 |
339 |
|
physical violence |
3,509 |
9,240 |
8523 |
|
illegal confinement |
2 |
16 |
14 |
|
blackmail |
125 |
274 |
260 |
|
extortion |
20 |
41 |
38 |
|
slander/libel |
52 |
116 |
113 |
|
fraud |
10 |
13 |
13 |
|
sexual assault |
110 |
190 |
180 |
|
bullying |
149 |
689 |
663 |
|
internet obscenity |
26 |
57 |
56 |
|
mugging |
1,157 |
3,044 |
2981 |
|
others |
205 |
559 |
538 |
|
total |
5,605 |
14,605 |
14276 |
The most common type of school bullying handled by the
committee was physical assault, followed by mugging. According to the reports
on school violence by the committee, of the 5,605 incidents in 2009, physical
assault took the first place, followed by mugging. The committee said that
there were almost twice as many incidents by boys than by girls. The committee
said there were 4,683 more male bullies, compared with girls. They were mostly
dealt with class changes, special educations, suspensions, and etc.
|
Category |
Review cases |
Number of incidents |
Number of assailants imposed penalty by the committee |
|
injury |
305 |
536 |
515 |
|
physical violence |
5,119 |
12,650 |
12395 |
|
illegal confinement |
7 |
15 |
14 |
|
blackmail |
177 |
467 |
445 |
|
extortion |
21 |
40 |
40 |
|
slander/libel |
104 |
274 |
270 |
|
fraud |
15 |
19 |
19 |
|
sexual assault |
148 |
322 |
319 |
|
bullying |
206 |
1001 |
984 |
|
internet obscenity |
39 |
102 |
101 |
|
mugging |
1,367 |
3,404 |
3365 |
|
others |
315 |
1,119 |
1086 |
|
total |
7,823 |
19,949 |
19,553 |
In 2010, of the total reported incidents of 7,823,
physical assault again took the first place by 5,119 incidents, with mugging on
the second place by 1,367. Again, assaults by boys (14,740) outnumbered those
by girls (6,209) by about 7,000 incidents. The total reported bullies rose by
about 5,000 compared to last year’s number.
Many cases of school bullying go unreported. Although everybody
is shouting for eradication of bullying and school violence, nobody seems to
have found solutions. Are counseling and changing classes or schools for the
bullies enough for protecting the students? Will disciplinary measures, such as
community work, lead the assailant students onto a right path?
The assaulted students choose death because they think
they have no other way to end the violence, and the assaulters continue their
violence because they are numb to it. Punishing the assailants and protecting
the victims are only measures after the violence already have taken place. We
have to pay attention to the students’ states of mind and relationships, talk
with them and take actions before someone actually gets hurt.
The ministry of education says that it will record the
school violence in school life reports. This however, is controversial, as
there are concerns that this measure might lead to individual students’ bruise
merging once again with college entrance competition or the issue being
attributed solely to the students. We have to think once again, whether this
measure would help us focus on students’ relationships and communications or
rather trigger more segmentations and conflicts.