School violence unveils ugly aspects of Korea

A bouquet of white chrysanthemums sits on the desk of a high school freshman who committed suicide apparently due to bullying at the school he attended in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 13. The 15-year-old surnamed Choi left a note which identified five students who assaulted him. / Yonhap

Dysfunctional family, cutthroat competition spawn classroom bullies

By Kim Jae-won

The suicide of a high-school freshman in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, last week shocked the country, illustrating how deeply and widely violence has become rooted in classrooms.

The 15-year-old surnamed Choi jumped from a 23-story apartment in the southeastern city, leaving a note that he had been bullied by five students who assaulted and exploited him for a few years since he was a middle school student.

In the note found in his schoolbag, Choi gave the names of the five bullies, and said they assaulted him in places where CCTVs were not established, showing the uselessness of surveillance cameras set up by police at his school.

Looking for the cause of the tragedy, President Park Geun-hye fired at teachers, urging them to better take care of their students.

"The essential change in school violence will come only when teachers show affection to students and interest in them," said Park in her visit to Myeongsin Elementary School in Seoul, Friday.

The president's complaint immediately attracted a backlash from teachers who argued that the roots of violence are from families, not the school. They say it is unfair to blame them whenever violence happens.

President Park Geun-hye looks at a screen which shows locations around Myeongsin Elementary School recorded by CCTVs at the school in Seoul, Friday. Park stressed the role of teachers in preventing school violence.
/ Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

"Most bullies are from dysfunctional families who have been rejected and have deep anger inside. It is not only a matter of school, but also a matter of family and society," said a middle school teacher in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on condition of anonymity.

She said teachers are also victims of school violence by students and parents who habitually conduct verbal abuse, and sometimes physical assault, against them. As she pointed out, violence against teachers also often makes headlines here, showing how widespread violence is in schools.

Scholars say cutthroat competition in classrooms creates bullies who are marginalized by the system.

"School violence is how students express their psychological discomfort amid a competitive educational system and social indifference to them," said Koo Hee-ju, a researcher at Kyonggi University, in her 2011 thesis titled, "The Factors Affecting Perception of School Violence for Adolescents."

Experts say what is important is to change the violent classroom culture by launching a systemic program based on scientific research.

"It is time to set up a long-term project which can uproot the violent culture prevalent in classrooms," said Lee Woong-hyeok, a professor at the National Police Academy.

Lee said schools have implemented their own anti-violence programs based on music, athletics and fine arts, but there have been no studies showing they work to prevent violence.

Parents say increasing the number of teacher/counselors is the most effective and immediate solution to the problem.

"It is ridiculous that only one counselor covers more than 600 students in a whole school. How can they find out about students' problems and situations?" said Lim Soo-hyang, a mother of two in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

In fact, students who attend a school that even has a counselor are lucky. According to data from the education ministry, the number of elementary, middle and high schools with no counselor was estimated to be 6,247 in October, accounting for 55 percent of the total 11,327.

"The number of counseling teachers who can prevent and solve school violence is too small. The key is to expand the number of counseling teachers equipped with high professionalism," said Rep. Woo Won-sik of the Democratic United Party in a statement.

The legislator, who represents the Nowon B District of northern Seoul, also said that the volatile job security of teacher/counselors hinders them from focusing on their duties.

Woo said only 21.8 percent of counselors are on the regular payroll, which means about four-fifths are contract workers, citing data from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

In particular, the ratio of temporary counselors in Seoul accounted for 82.8 percent of the total in October, the third-largest nationwide and only behind Gangwon Province and Jeju Province, which posted 84.6 percent and 86.7 percent, respectively.

Rep. Kang Eun-hee of the ruling Saenuri Party said school violence is becoming more serious year by year.

The number of school bullies stood at 17,866 in the first semester of 2012, up 32 percent and 79 percent from the same period in 2011 and 2010, respectively, according to data from the ministry. That means 2.5 bullies per 1,000 students initiated violence in schools between March and July 2012.

Assaults topped the list of the types of violence, accounting for 53.9 percent, followed by extortion of money at 14.2 percent. Ostracizing fellow students came third, representing 6.4 percent. Other violence included threatening and forcing students to run errands.