Most people think ‘School Violence’ only happens among teenagers, but the sad truth is that school violence also occurs among university students. Adult perpetrators are prosecuted for the crime of ‘Assault’ and ‘Posing a Threat.’ However, if teenagers had committed the same offence, they would have been lightly disciplined by ‘School Violence Committee’ instead of being reported to the police. Assault also regularly occurs among adults, because we have not been able to change the wrong habits of adolescents. Unfortunately, there are many cases where victims of school violence in adolescence can’t overcome their wounds in adulthood, and victims of school violence in university can’t be active in university either. CBT reporters met Song Byung-joon, a teenager instructor who tries to create a victimless society, educate the perpetrators to feel the victims’ suffering, and lead them to repent for their mistakes.



1. Introduce yourself, please.
  Hello, I’m Song Byung-joon, a teenager activist working hard to bring about harmony among teenagers in Ilsan.

2. What made you want to become a teenager instructor?
  When I was young, I grew up in a difficult environment. I was raised by a single parent and grandmother, and I was teased a lot and my self-esteem was formed negatively. Now that I think about my childhood, I think I experienced a kind of school violence. In my childhood, I met a good teacher, and then I found direction to overcome this difficulty. I wanted to prove my worth in existence, and wanted to be used in society. Therefore, I wanted to be a social worker first, but when I went to university, I discovered that there was a Department of Youth Guidance. I was immediately interested in it, and decided to join. Plus, I became a teenager instructor because I was confident that I could be a person who could voluntarily lead students in a good direction and instill empathy while meeting many students.

3. You are running a program called ‘The Classroom of Love.’ Could you tell us how and why you started this program?
  ‘Love Classroom’ is a project to enhance the understanding of oneself and others by providing various programs based on restorative justice for delinquent youth and fostering a healthy community by learning about peaceful action and culture. This group consists of adolescents who have reported a crime to the police. It’s a project that connects adolescents to the police station, to the youth training center, and then allows them to admit their wrongdoing. If you look at the youngsters who were reported, quite a few of the perpetrators had a poor family environment. Many of them try to cope with the trauma of the home environment by continuing and repeating the vicious cycle. We aim to make those perpetrators aware that It's not your fault, it’s society’s fault,” and “Of course your behavior is wrong.”
 
4. School violence also occurs in universities; how should we act as victims or witnesses?
  Reporting the violence is the most important and effective countermeasure. There is a manual, which describes the fixed process for reporting violence to the police, available to those who seek counselling. Also, you must check if people have suffered external or physical injuries during the episode. When reporting an incident of violence, it is very important to be assertive and aggressively give testimony to what had happened. Being timid in that situation may create an opportunity for the assailant to deny what he or she did. When violence occurs, filming videos and recordings are very helpful. If that is not possible, being assertive is crucial. The wounds, what the perpetrator said, and what was damaged should be organized in detail and handed over to the police.
 
5. How do victims of school violence usually cope?
  The victims usually have psychological and physical wounds and these need time to heal. In fact, it takes a considerable amount of time, and there are cases of people quitting school. Measures are taken to prevent secondary harm by reducing the physical distance between the surrounding support and the victims, but psychological trauma and stress must be shouldered by themselves and their families. In some cases, a psychological support is provided through continuous counseling and medication.

6. The issue of punishment for school violence perpetrators always comes to the fore, and in your opinion, what punishment or prevention measures should be taken to reduce school violence?
  First, I think it’s violence between students, not school violence. If you conceptualize it as ‘School Violence’, many things are hidden in the shadows. Things like the violence of corporal punishment, verbal violence, and excessive competition in school disappears, and the fact that violence between students is caused by the violent structure of the school is also glossed over. The reason for violence between students stems from social structural problems, which are divided into the strong and the weak, or differences in conflict. It is natural for people to have different ideas, and I think it is natural for this to give rise to conflicts. However, it becomes a problem when it turns into violence. Therefore, I think the first thing to do in school is human rights education. People have to know, beyond a doubt, that we shouldn’t reject things, or people, just because they are different or inferior. We need to create a culture that firmly prevents violence against someone just because they are a minority. Also, friends with low self-esteem should be encouraged to increase their self-esteem. Everyone can be a strong person, a weak person. Depending on where you stand, you can distinguish yourself from the strong or the weak, but you have to stop thinking that you are too weak, and lowering your self-esteem. In order to increase self-esteem, you can keep a diary, walk around and increase your self-esteem by creating success stories one by one, I think violence between students can decrease if you become a person who is not ashamed at all, even if you are weak.

7. Please leave a final comment for Chungbuk National University students.
  I hope you enjoy the present rather than the distant future. Like adolescence, college days don’t ever come back. Rather than worrying too much about the future, savor your youth. You don’t have to try to fit in, and you can take your time to be your best self. People are all different, so I hope you don’t criticize and chastise yourself too much. In any case, everyone will do well, so investing some time to protect your self-esteem.

By Ahn Min-joo l mj40@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Ji-min l jimin41@cbnu.ac.kr
By Song Chae-i l kelly1526@cbnu.ac.kr