A survey found that experiences of school violence among elementary school students rose sharply over the past year. Responses saying they witnessed school violence but stood by, and that "nothing changed even after reporting it," also increased.
The Blue Tree Foundation, a specialized institution for preventing school violence, released the results of its "national school violence survey" on the 19th at its headquarters in Seocho-dong, Seoul. The survey was conducted from Nov. 3 to Dec. 31 last year with 8,476 elementary, middle and high school students nationwide.
The proportion of respondents among elementary school students who said they had experienced school violence was tallied at 12.5% last year. Compared with 4.9% in 2023, that figure more than doubled. The figure was 3.4% for middle school students and 1.6% for high school students, showing a relatively higher proportion of respondents among elementary school students.
The foundation analyzed that lower-grade students increasingly express conflicts physically without clearly distinguishing the line between play and violence.
Foundation counseling director Kim Mi-jung said, "Elementary school students sometimes feel the boundary between rough-and-tumble play and violence is vague," and noted, "They may also report it as a victimization experience after some time has passed, even if it happened while playing together."
Based on all responses, verbal abuse accounted for the largest share of school violence at 23.8%. It was followed by physical violence at 17.9% and cyberbullying at 14.5%. In particular, the share of physical violence was found to be the highest since 2019.
Among cyberbullying cases, harm mediated by online games accounted for the largest share at 39.9%. Of these, 95.7% said they experienced overlapping harm that spanned both online and offline. The foundation analyzed that "online games are combining with real-life relationships and functioning as complex pathways for harm."
The share of respondents who said they witnessed school violence but took no particular action was 54.6%. Compared with 21.5% in 2021, that figure rose sharply. In addition, the response that "school violence was reported but nothing happened" was 33%, about triple the 10.9% in 2021.
The resolution most desired by victimized students was "an apology from the perpetrating student," cited by 70.8%.
Ahead of the upcoming local elections, the foundation urged candidates for local government heads and superintendents of education to include pledges to strengthen administrative responses to school violence and expand support for restoring the mental health of victimized students.