School Violence: 5.0% in Elementary > 2.1% in Middle > 0.7% in High Schools... Verbal Abuse Most Common

Ministry of Education Announces Results of the “2025 2nd School Violence Survey” on March 17

The highest rate of reported school violence (bullying) victimization last year was found in elementary schools. Four out of ten cases of school violence involved verbal abuse, while the most cited reason for school violence was "it was just a joke, or there was no particular reason."

On March 17, the Ministry of Education announced that this was the result of the "2025 Second Survey on School Violence" conducted by delegating the research to the National Youth Policy Institute and the Korea Education and Research Information Service, in cooperation with the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education.

This survey was conducted from September 22 to October 21 of the previous year, targeting approximately 220,000 students from fourth grade in elementary school to second grade in high school. About 170,000 students participated, resulting in a participation rate of 76.6%.

First, the response rate for school violence victimization among elementary, middle, and high school students averaged 3.0%. By school level, elementary school students had the highest rate at 5.1%, followed by middle school students at 2.4%, and high school students at 1.0%.

By type of victimization (multiple responses allowed), verbal abuse accounted for the largest proportion at 40.3%. This was followed by group ostracism (15.3%), physical violence (13.9%), cyberbullying (6.8%), coercion (6.6%), and extortion (6.5%). Stalking (5.6%) and sexual violence (5.1%) also accounted for a significant share.

In contrast to the victim response rate, the perpetrator response rate among elementary, middle, and high school students averaged only 1.1%. Elementary school students had the highest rate at 1.9%, followed by middle school students at 0.9%, and high school students at 0.2%.

When asked about their "post-offense experiences," 57.8% replied that they "apologized to the other party," followed by "received guidance from a school teacher" (14.0%), and "were scolded by a guardian or relative" (12.3%). Additionally, 8.9% responded that "nothing happened."

The rate of reporting having witnessed school violence was 7.7%. In terms of their "feelings upon witnessing," the most common response was "I wanted to help no matter what," at 29.5%.

Regarding the causes of school violence, the most common answer was "as a joke or with no particular reason" (24.6%). This was followed by "to appear strong" (17.3%), "disliking the victim's behavior" (16.2%), and "venting anger or stress" (15.4%), with these reasons all showing double-digit percentages across all grade levels.

When asked how they would respond to school violence, the most common reply was "I would report it to a school teacher" (28.5%).

As for effective preventive measures, "education on school violence prevention and response methods" was cited by 28.5% of respondents as the most important, followed by "installation of CCTV inside and outside the school" at 23.9%. In terms of necessary prevention activities, the highest percentages were for school interest and guidance (28.3%), and education on school violence prevention and response methods (17.0%).

Education Minister Choi Gyojin is touching his head while attending the full meeting of the School Violence Countermeasures Committee held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on March 16, 2026. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Based on these findings, on March 16, the Ministry of Education, together with related ministries, deliberated on the "2026 Implementation Plan for School Violence Prevention Measures" at the Government Seoul Office. The plan includes the development of content to strengthen school violence prevention capabilities and the expansion of relationship-centered systems to reduce conflicts within schools. At the school level, the government will expand the Wee Class program and the number of professional counseling teachers, and provide support to students requiring separation and healing through nationwide residential healing centers.

Minister Choi Gyojin stated, "The true resolution of school violence lies not in simply handling the case, but in restoring the trust of the damaged community." He continued, "This year, we will focus on expanding the deliberation system for relationship restoration, strengthening public-private cooperation to address new types of violence, and enhancing support from the perspective of victimized students." He added, "We will shift the school violence response system (paradigm) to focus on restoring trust within the educational community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.