The reason you are looking for a school violence lawyer is... 'Reduced school violence, increased cyber violence'

A lawyer I met recently said that although the number of days students attend school last year was significantly reduced compared to previous years due to the impact of COVID-19, there does not seem to be a significant difference in the number of cases that seek school violence lawyers.

Due to the spread of the Internet and SNS, school violence can occur even if students do not meet face-to-face at school, and the level and persistence of cyberbullying that occurs online is higher, so there are frequent incidents that require an experienced school violence lawyer.

The parents of Ms. A, a fifth-grader at an elementary school in Seoul, recently became worried after hearing the news that the School Violence Response Committee (School Violence Committee) would be held.

As a result of interrogating Ms. A and checking her messages, she did not actively participate, but it was discovered that her friends, including B, whom she used to hang out with, had inflicted cyber violence on C, who had transferred from Busan last year, and a school violence committee was held.

What A and B's friends did was harass them by inviting them to a group chat room and swearing at them, then inviting them back when they left the chat room and swearing at them even more, and uploading photos to social media without permission and belittling their appearance.

Ms. C ended up deleting all her social media accounts due to continued bullying and reported school violence, saying, “I’m scared of my cell phone alarm ringing frequently.”
Miss A's parents expressed their regret, saying, "It was certainly a mistake to not stop the bullies while Ms. C suffered great harm, but I am also very worried that problems may arise in the child's future."

According to the ‘2020 School Violence Survey’ announced by the Ministry of Education on the 21st, while schools were closed in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus last year, school violence decreased overall, but new forms of violence in different locations and aspects increased.

As the time spent at school decreases, physical school violence that occurs face-to-face has decreased, but as the time students spend in cyberspace increases, the proportion of cyber violence and group bullying has increased.

Cyberbullying is harassment inflicted on others in cyberspace. Types include cyber insults, which involve using insulting language or swearing at a specific person in cyberspace such as SNS or chat rooms; cyber defamation, which involves posting or distributing false content online; cyber sexual harassment, which causes psychological damage to the other person by forcing obscene conversations on the Internet or causing sexual humiliation, and stalking. Accordingly, in order to reduce damage in cyberspace, the ‘Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.’ was established, and punishment for cyber violence became possible.

It may be viewed lightly as there is no physical violence, but it is also important to note that the use of physical force is not a major factor when considering the severity of school violence incidents.

Four of the five items in the school violence score standard set by the Ministry of Education are unrelated to physical violence, and the severity items can also be determined depending on the degree of cyberbullying. Unlike in the past, when cyberbullying alone was a light measure, transfers and expulsions corresponding to items 8 and 9 are also being taken.

Jae-guk Shim, a criminal lawyer (Daeryun Law Firm), advised, “If you can’t say something face-to-face, you shouldn’t say it in cyberspace either. In most cases of school violence, the relationship between the parties does not go in the direction they think.” He added, “If you receive a report of cyberbullying even though it was not your intention, it is difficult to resolve it alone and you need to proactively respond in advance to avoid unfair results.”
He continued, "School violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances. Because it can leave fatal aftereffects on the victim, it is essential to understand the exact facts and act wisely, such as acknowledging and reflecting on the fact of the offense," and added, "It is our lawyer's role to balance the punishment so that it is not unfair or careless."

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