Students, teachers have differing opinions on school violence: Survey

An illustration of a victim of school violence [JOONGANG ILBO]

Most students thought the lack of corrective guidance for bullies caused school violence, while most teachers thought the lack of discipline at home was the cause, according to a recent research report. Very few teachers thought their lack of care caused school violence.

Of the 7,808 students surveyed, 52.5 percent thought the lack of education and corrective guidance for bullies was the leading cause of school violence, according to the latest volume of an academic journal issued in December by the Ewha Womens University Educational Research Institute.

Of the 6,576 teachers surveyed, 71.4 percent thought the lack of character discipline at home was the main reason.

While 27.8 percent of students thought the lack of care from the school and teachers caused bullying, just 2 percent of teachers thought the same. The research team led by education Prof. Shin Tae-seob said students expect efforts from the school and teachers to prevent school violence.

“A student who insulted a classmate and led the bullying behavior only ended up being transferred to a school right next to ours,” said Lee, who graduated from high school this year. “The faculty seemed reluctant to get too deeply involved.”

Students thought the best response to school violence was punishing bullies as harshly as juvenile delinquents. On a scale of 1 to 5, they gave a 3.67 on average in favor of the measure.

Students also thought reforming the policy to enable a faster response, with 3.66, and involvement at early stages, with 3.62, could be effective.

Teachers thought better protection and support for bullied students at early stages, at 3.95, was the best method, followed by better educational guidance from schools, at 3.92.

“It’s difficult for students to feel the effect of preventive programs for school violence because the programs repeat the same content and have been run online since the pandemic,” said Park Ju-hyung, professor of educational policy at Gyeongin National University of Education, adding that the Education Ministry needs to expand face-to-face and tailored corrective programs.

Students and teachers agreed on the problem of verbal violence. Of all those surveyed, 42.8 percent thought verbal bullying was the most serious case of school violence after cyberbullying, with 56.6 percent. They thought verbal violence was more serious than physical violence, 36.6 percent, and sexual violence, 23.8 percent.

A report on bullying cases released by the Education Ministry on Feb. 28 also reported that verbal bullying happened the most, with four out of 10 cases being verbal abuse. It also had the highest rate of unsettled cases, with 35.3 percent.

“Verbal violence is perceived as a common scuffle or a minor insult, but should not be regarded as trivial because all school violence is linked to it,” said Park Ok-sik, a lead researcher for the Blue Tree Foundation, a youth violence prevention organization.

The National Assembly’s education committee plans to discuss protection for students and punishment for bullies on Thursday.

BY LEE HOO-YEON, LEE GA-RAM [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]