Jeju Office of Education Survey: School Violence Victim Response Rate at 3.4%, Highest in Five Years... Elementary Schools at 7.0%

[Financial News Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok] The response rate for school violence victimization in the Jeju region has risen to 3.4%, the highest in the last five years. In particular, the rate for elementary school students climbed to 7.0%, significantly higher than that of middle and high school students, and the proportions of group bullying and physical violence also increased. With school violence particularly prominent among younger students, the Jeju Office of Education is strengthening preventive measures centered on restoring relationships and improving language culture.
According to the results of the '2026 First School Violence Survey' conducted by the Jeju Office of Education on the 12th, 1,642 students who participated in the survey said they had experienced school violence, resulting in a victimization response rate of 3.4%.
The number increased by 163 from 1,479 last year, or 3.1%, and the response rate rose by 0.3 percentage points. The victimization response rate rose from 2.6% in 2022, 2.9% in 2023, 2.8% in 2024, and 3.1% in 2025 to 3.4% this year, marking the highest level in the last five years.
The survey was conducted online from April 14 to May 13 among 58,583 students from fourth grade of elementary school through third grade of high school in Jeju. A total of 47,735 students participated, for a participation rate of 81.5%.
The survey covered students' experiences as victims, perpetrators, or witnesses of school violence from the start of the second semester of the 2025 academic year through the time of the survey. The victimization response rate is not the proportion of incidents officially recognized by a School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee or other body, but the proportion of participating students who said they had experienced victimization.
There was a significant gap by school level. The elementary school victimization response rate rose by 0.6 percentage points, from 6.4% last year to 7.0% this year. A total of 1,012 elementary school students said they had experienced victimization.
The rate for middle schools also rose from 2.3% to 2.5%, while the rate for high schools increased from 1.0% to 1.3%. Although the victimization response rate rose at all school levels, the elementary school rate was 2.8 times that of middle schools and more than five times that of high schools.

The high response rate for elementary schools has continued over the long term. The elementary school victimization response rate was 5.7% in 2022, 6.0% in 2023, 5.6% in 2024, 6.4% last year, and 7.0% this year.
The types of school violence have also changed. Based on multiple responses, verbal violence was the most common, accounting for 1,141 cases, or 38.9% of all reported victimization types. Although the proportion fell from 41.1% last year, the number of responses increased by 45 from 1,096.
Group bullying accounted for 481 cases, or 16.4%. Both the number of cases and the proportion rose from 413 cases and 15.5% last year. Physical violence increased even more sharply, rising by 98 cases from 366 last year to 464 this year, while its proportion increased by 2.1 percentage points from 13.7% to 15.8%.
Cyberbullying decreased from 197 cases to 186, and its proportion fell from 7.4% to 6.3%. The survey recorded 179 cases of extortion, 175 cases of coercion, 162 cases of sexual violence, and 142 cases of stalking.
The locations where victimization occurred were still mostly inside schools. Based on multiple responses, 2,285 reports indicated that incidents occurred inside schools, accounting for 72.2% of the total. Classrooms were the most common location, with 868 cases, or 27.4%, followed by hallways and stairs with 499 cases, and playgrounds, gymnasiums, and auditoriums with 433 cases.
However, the proportion of victimization occurring outside school rose from 25.0% last year to 27.8% this year. The number of responses reporting victimization in cyberspace also increased from 160 to 205.
The number of students who said they had witnessed school violence also increased. The witness response rate rose by 1.2 percentage points, from 7.1% last year to 8.3% this year. The number of students who said they had witnessed school violence increased by 595, from 3,358 to 3,953.

Conversely, the number of students who said they had perpetrated school violence decreased from 657 to 530, and the perpetration response rate fell from 1.4% to 1.1%. Since victimization and witness responses increased while self-reported perpetration decreased, the causes of changes in each indicator need to be examined in greater detail.
The Jeju Office of Education has designated verbal violence, group bullying, and cyberbullying as primary prevention targets and is strengthening relationship-centered education. The language culture improvement education period, which runs from the fourth week of September through the second week of November, will be doubled from the current three weeks to six weeks. The office will produce and distribute educational videos for elementary, middle, and high school students, and will also run a school culture responsibility agreement campaign and a school violence prevention content contest.
Preventive activities are also being expanded in schools. 'Peace Classrooms,' relationship-centered classroom communities, will operate in 190 schools; visiting cultural and artistic performances will be held in 145 schools; customized preventive activities will be conducted in 136 schools; and school- or grade-level relationship restoration programs will be implemented in 105 schools.
Support for students victimized by school violence will be provided through a one-stop system connecting case intake, investigation, victim support, relationship restoration, and legal advice. Mental health treatment costs of 700,000 won per person and hospitalization costs of up to 3 million won will be covered, and approximately seven entrusted institutions dedicated to supporting victimized students will be operated.
The support package also includes legal advice for victimized students if an offending student files an administrative appeal or lawsuit. Contact through mobile phones or social networking services will also be covered by no-contact measures to strengthen the prevention of secondary victimization.
An official from the Jeju Office of Education said, "We will closely analyze the types and trends of school violence and expand customized, relationship-restoration-centered preventive education starting in the lower elementary grades," adding, "We will focus on creating a school environment where students can live safely."
[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter