Seoul. School violence incidents in South Korea have reached record levels due to the increasing use of digital devices, social distancing, and aggressive behavior post-COVID-19 pandemic.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Education, in a survey on school violence conducted among approximately 3.9 million students from grade 4 to the final year of high school, the rate of students falling victim to violence reached 2.9 percent in 2026. This is a 0.4 percent increase compared to the previous year.
This is the highest rate since the Ministry of Education began collecting data on school violence in 2013. This means that out of every 100 students at the primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels, approximately three have experienced school violence.
In the first phase of this year’s online survey, which is conducted twice a year, 81.9 percent, or about 3.19 million students, participated. This participation rate is 0.3 percent lower than last year.
The survey covered school violence incidents that occurred from the second semester of 2025 to May 2026. The data shows that school violence incidents have continuously increased as schools returned to normal after the pandemic.
The rate of students falling victim to violence, which was 1.6 percent in 2019, decreased to 0.9 percent in 2020 due to distance learning. Since then, the rate has gradually increased to 1.1 percent in 2021, 1.7 percent in 2022, 1.9 percent in 2023, 2.1 percent in 2024, and 2.5 percent in 2025.
Experts say these statistics also highlight the long-term social impact of the pandemic. They state that reduced direct contact with others for a long time and increased reliance on digital devices have weakened students’ conflict resolution skills and increased aggressive behavior in the classroom.
“As the daily use of digital devices increases, adolescents show a lack of experience in developing direct or face-to-face relationships with others, and their empathy is also weakening,” said Sung Yoon-sook, a senior researcher at the National Youth Policy Institute, which conducted and analyzed the survey.
By school level, the rate of students falling victim to violence was highest at the primary level, at 5.7 percent. At the lower secondary level, this rate was 2.3 percent, and at the upper secondary level, it was 0.8 percent.
Among the types of violence, verbal violence was the most prevalent at 37.8 percent. This was followed by group bullying at 17.1 percent, physical violence at 15.7 percent, and cyberbullying at 7 percent.
However, the rates of verbal violence and cyberbullying have decreased by 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. In contrast, physical violence has increased by 1.1 percent and group bullying by 0.7 percent.
This year, the rate of students admitting to engaging in school violence was 0.8 percent, which is 0.3 percent lower than last year. However, the rate of students witnessing violence increased by 0.6 percentage points to 6.7 percent.
This indicates that although the proportion of students admitting to direct involvement in violence has decreased, the number of students facing adverse or unsafe environments in school remains large.
