Rethinking the Way We Handle School Violence

School should be a place where students feel safe, respected, and able to learn freely. However, in recent years, a growing number of reports have shown that school violence — including bullying, verbal abuse, and even physical aggression — continues to be a serious problem in Korea. More concerning is the fact that the current response system often fails to protect victims effectively or to solve the root causes of the problem. If we want real change, it is time to examine what is going wrong and what must be done differently.

◇ What’s Not Working?

One of the biggest issues in the current school violence response system is that it is often too focused on punishment, rather than prevention and healing. When a case is reported, the school violence committee (학교폭력대책심의위원회) typically steps in to investigate and assign disciplinary action, such as suspension or transfer. While this may appear firm, in reality, it often leads to further isolation of victims, retaliation by offenders, and broken relationships within the school.

Another concern is the uneven quality of investigations. Because school staff are directly involved, there is sometimes pressure to protect the school’s reputation or to avoid conflict with parents. Victims may be discouraged from speaking out, or their experiences may be minimized. In some extreme cases, the emotional burden becomes too heavy for the student, and the system provides too little support, too late.

Lastly, the long and stressful process of official reports and hearings often adds to the trauma. Victims are required to retell their story multiple times, wait weeks for decisions, and continue to attend school in fear. Rather than solving the problem, the system sometimes makes it worse.

◇ What Can Be Done?

If we want to build safer schools, we must move from a punishment-centered model to one that includes prevention, protection, and psychological recovery. Here are three key steps we should take:

1. Early Prevention Through Education

We must teach students from a young age about empathy, respect, and digital responsibility. Anti-bullying lessons should be a regular part of the curriculum, not just a yearly campaign. Schools should also create safe spaces where students feel comfortable talking to trusted adults before problems grow bigger.

2. Independent Investigation Bodies

To ensure fairness, investigations into serious school violence cases should be handled by neutral, trained professionals, not just teachers or school staff. This would help reduce bias and give both victims and accused students a fairer process.

3. Stronger Support Systems for Victims

Instead of forcing victims to leave or stay in silence, schools should offer mental health support, safe classroom environments, and flexible schooling options. Restorative justice programs — where the offender and victim can meet under guidance to understand the harm and work toward healing — have shown positive results in other countries.

◇ A Call to Action

School violence is not just about bad behavior — it reflects deeper issues in how we teach, listen, and protect one another. If we continue to use a system that only reacts after damage is done, we will never build truly safe schools. But if we choose to listen more, act earlier, and support more deeply, then we can create learning spaces where all students — victims, bystanders, and even bullies — grow into more caring and responsible citizens.