The Korea Herald

피터빈트

P.M. urges national fight against school violence

By Yoon Min-sik

Published : Dec. 22, 2014 - 21:40

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Prime Minister Chung Hong-won on Monday urged a comprehensive effort from the public to eradicate the underlying causes of school violence.

“To fundamentally solve school violence, not only schools but families, local communities and the government must work in tandem to come up with corresponding measures,” said Chung at a meeting of the committee on school violence at Sejong Government Complex.

His comments came as the committee ― affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office ― passed a pan-government plan to root out school violence at the meeting.

The five-year plan, slated to be set in motion in January, includes measures like enhancing ethics lessons in schools, monitoring places most prone to student violence, augmenting infrastructure at schools and better protecting victims.

“Starting with the Nuri program ― the state-backed free child care program ― and throughout the education system, we will make sure children learn to be considerate, share and cooperate with others,” said Kim Dong-won, the head of the education policy office at the Education Ministry.

The ministry will also expand the student peer-counseling program, which currently operates in 7,241 schools, to all schools by 2019.

In addition, the government plans to apply the Crime Prevention Through Environment Design program to all newly built schools as part of their effort to address the underlying causes of school violence. The program is currently being test-run in 25 schools.

According to Education Ministry official Oh Sung-bae, buildings using the CPTED will minimize “blind spots” that are hard to monitor. “For example, bathrooms ― which are usually used by perpetrators of violence ― will be placed adjacent to the teachers’ office. Surveillance cameras will be also be installed to make sure there are no blind spots.”

The ministry officials added that child education at home was critical for school violence prevention. Parents of children all age groups from preschool to high school will be able to receive parenting classes, such child discipline, according to the government’s plan.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heralcorp.com)