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SisaWeek reporter Lee Min-ji “One day I began to sense something was wrong with my child. I wanted to chalk it up to puberty, but their behavior kept changing. Bruises started appearing, and they became entangled with other kids over money. At one point I even received calls demanding that I repay money on their behalf. My concern grew that this was more than just growing pains. When I raised it, my child denied anything was wrong and became angry, and before long I couldn’t bring it up anymore.”
Park Ji-yeon (pseudonym), a parent of a student who experienced school violence, reluctantly recounted her child’s ordeal at the ‘2026 School Violence Survey’ briefing held at the BTF Pureunamu Foundation in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 19th. The survey’s findings show a renewed rise in physical violence, mirroring Park’s case.
The BTF Pureunamu Foundation surveyed 8,476 students nationwide—from second grade of elementary school through second grade of high school—across 17 cities and provinces between Nov. 3 and Dec. 31 last year. Among types of school violence, verbal abuse accounted for the largest share at 23.8%, followed by physical violence at 17.9% and cyber violence at 14.5%.
Physical violence has climbed steadily over three years—from 10.6% in 2023 to 17.9% in 2025—reaching its highest level since 2019. Yet only 55.3% of elementary students identified physical harm as school violence, suggesting younger children may not clearly distinguish rough play from abusive behavior and may express conflict physically.
Kim Seok-min, a manager at the BTF Pureunamu Foundation, said, “We documented a case where a second-grade girl was repeatedly physically harmed by classmates—pinched until bruising and tripped so she sustained contusions. Immediately after the incidents, the student reported severe stress and anxiety, but the perpetrator minimized the acts as ‘play’.”
He added that because the incidents involved younger students, the seriousness of the behavior was not addressed promptly, delaying intervention. As the conflict dragged on, the victim now requires professional psychological support. The family also reported financial strain from caregiver burnout and treatment costs incurred during the response.
Cyberbullying tied to online games showed a marked increase. Among students who reported cyberbullying, incidents occurring inside online games rose from 16.2% in 2024 to 39.9% in 2025—more than doubling.
The survey found online games to be the most common venue for cyber extortion and coercion (36.6%) and for online sexual violence (30.4%).
Overall, 40.2% of students who experienced school violence reported both online and offline victimization. Among those who experienced harm in online games, however, 95.7% reported overlapping online and offline victimization. That indicates violence originating in games frequently spills into school life, peer relationships, and social media.
Kim observed that cyberbullying once centered on social media, messaging apps, and group chats, but more recently has emerged prominently within online games that combine real‑time voice chat and team play. “Online games facilitate immediate emotional outbursts,” he said. “In that environment, insults, slurs, mockery, and sexual harassment can be dismissed as emotional expression or joking, which risks trivializing serious abuse.”
Victims identified a sincere apology from the perpetrator as central to resolving school violence. The most common reason respondents said their case was resolved was “I received an apology from the perpetrator” (51.8%). Conversely, the leading reason cases remained unresolved was “I did not receive an apology” (50.8%).
Kim Mi-jung, head of counseling at BTF Pureunamu, said victims often respond that a sincere apology would help them heal. She added that perpetrators, when asked what would prevent recurrence, often ask for an opportunity to reflect and apologize to the victim before facing punishment or legal action.
“Parents sometimes discourage apologies out of fear they will compound trouble for their child,” she continued. “Addressing school violence should not center on legal battles. Early educational responses that allow genuine apology and reflection are necessary.”
Meanwhile, the BTF Pureunamu Foundation presented policy proposals to candidates for education superintendent and metropolitan leaders in the local elections. Recommendations included building and expanding multi-layered protection systems within schools; establishing an AI-based integrated platform for prevention, protection, and recovery from school violence; improving early-response systems so teachers can intervene confidently; creating dedicated support centers for victim students and specialized corrective-treatment centers for perpetrators; and expanding participatory, experiential prevention education tailored to each school level.
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