No. of Seoul students victimized by school violence up 25.4%

The survey found that 1.8 percent of the respondents experienced school violence between the second semester of last year and May this year, up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier.

The percentage of students at primary schools subjected to school violence gained 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier to 4 percent. The corresponding numbers at junior high and high schools rose 0.8 percentage point and 0.1 percentage point, respectively, to 1 percent and 0.5 percent.

By type, verbal abuse topped the list at 35.1 percent, followed by bullying at 17.6 percent, stalking at 12.2 percent, assaults at 10.3 percent and cyber bulling at 10.2 percent.

The numbers for cyber bullying, which involves the use of personal computers and mobile phones, at junior high and high schools came to 15.2 percent and 15.7 percent, respectively, higher than the 8.2 percent at primary schools.

According to the survey, 31.8 percent of school violence cases took place during break time, 16.3 percent after school, 15.7 percent during lunch and 8.8 percent in class.

Most of the school violence was perpetrated by students attending the same schools as the victims, with students in the same classrooms of the same schools making up the lion's share of perpetrators with 46.4 percent.

More than 80 percent of school violence victims reported their suffering, up 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier.

The number of respondents who witnessed cases of school violence increased 22.4 percent from a year earlier to 29,455.

But 31.5 percent of them just ignored such cases, up 10.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The revelation raises the need to educate all students on preventing school violence. (Yonhap)