Difficulties in combating school bullies

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

018/

One afternoon, a middle school girl jump off the apartment building after receiving a black mail from her classmates. Kim left behind a handwritten note, “I would rather die than to be treated this way.” The 15-year-old had been repeatedly bullied by four to five friends at school. Her parents and school authorities never knew about this with her classmates remaining silent to avoid becoming the second victim. “I am afraid of becoming the next target. Other classmates are in similar feeling,” a classmate said.

The horrific story of the girl was uncovered through media in 1996, sparking debates about school bullying. It created pressure on regulators and educators to do something, anything to help it stop. Yet in the rush to find a solution, various efforts have been implemented but produced no results. In the early 90s, police even tried to temporarily restrict the spread of Japanese comic books, since the Korean word for a ‘loner’ or an ‘outsider’ first arrived in Korea from Japanese comics. 

The incident of 1996 shared a significant resemblance to the a middle school student in Daegu, identified as a 16-year-old Kim, who committed suicide on Dec. 20 2011 after being tormented by his classmates. His story is a classic case of bullying: he was also violently treated by his fellow friends for months. 

However, the only difference is that the methods used by teenagers in the latest incident got more brutal. It is no longer just joking around, minor skirmishes between friends and gossip but copying scenes from gangster movies, even burying the student in the ground, treating him like a slave. Kim was forced to deliver his allowance, homework and an online game character. Bullies even knew the door lock number of Kim’s place, frequenting the house uninvited. 

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has been releasing the number of students treated as an outcast by classmates at school. According to the statistics the number has been increasing from 1,279 in 2008 to 1505 in 2010. The ministry and police have been trying to restore policies to overcome the school violence with no success. 

On the surface, middle school students are identified as victims of bullying but the root of the issue begins from elementary school. Most of the concerns and worries uploaded online seeking help from bullies are elementary school kids so the deterrence must begin at a younger age. “We cannot afford to lose another youth and just blame everything to the school,” a ministry official said. “We have arrived at a time where everyone in society must strive to fend off bullying and put an end to the tragedy.”

"Bullied by friends"... No, not friends
Me need a WTF tag for this kind of *bip*.... calm version of me found it >.> (with a lot of help)


Source: Koreatimes

Comments

[rylee900.livejournal.com]

Wtf is going on in that picture? :/

[burger.livejournal.com]

It looks like they're being forced to do pressups in a puddle or something. I thought they were wearing plastic raincoats or smth at first but it looks like they've had stuff thrown on them actually... or it could just be the light :|a

[kiminikaeru.livejournal.com]

mte

[kawaiikame.livejournal.com]

One tried to break the system and has ended up with permanent injuries to her spine because her seniors used to kick her in the back |:

Omg ._____.,

[black-silver.livejournal.com]

DDDDDD: whaaaaaaaaat

wow

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Arf people sometimes...smh

[hellafun.livejournal.com]

jesus what is it with bullying that so much people do it? it's like some kind of powerplay to them, to cover up their own insecurities, or maybe they enjoy it but ugh, i don't see why you would go out of your way to destroy other people's lives and give them issues.

[asiotus.livejournal.com]

It is indeed a powerplay. To make the bully feel more powerfull and important through dominating the victim. I have been both the victim and the bully so i know.

[katzsong.livejournal.com]

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS??!! Not really blaming them, but they do have a part in this. They have the power to stop this as well. Or at least try to. The school alone can't and won't ever be able to do it without the cooperation of parents. Unless the parents are bullies themselves :3
At this rate, it's no longer a "phase" that every kid must go through while growing up. It's a crime or psycho-in-the-making. And both the victims and bullies can end up in jails, mental institution or morgue. This really needs to stop soon :(

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

If it's in Korea,

Welp, since we have no "child protective services" in any way, unless something blatantly criminal happens... even then, since we're a land of settlements, and not litigations..

[swhyeon1991.livejournal.com]

Kim was forced to deliver his allowance, homework and an online game character.
omg homework and an OL game char in a line .__.

Bullies even knew the door lock number of Kim’s place, frequenting the house uninvited.
. . .

Me need a WTF tag for this kind of *bip*
i think it's there OP?

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Oh my eito kami-sama, there is one. I was so pissed off I didn't even see it.
Thank you

[annhh.livejournal.com]

I just can't with bullying. for fuck sake you know

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

It's just a guess and I might be very wrong, but you've never been in a "bullying" situation?
It's not that easy to see when someone is being bullied (if there is no "scars").
People who are bullied are usually very good at hiding it, unfortunatly.

[pladpuss.livejournal.com]

I'll never understand why people use the phrase "bullied by friends" those kids were not his friends. My teacher used the same phrase when I was bullied in elementary and the kids that bullied me were never my friends its like they are softening it up oh they bullied you but remember they are your friends.

[sadistic-dance.livejournal.com]

Where are the baseball bats...

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

As much as I share your anger, do not lower yourself to their level

[yolleh.livejournal.com]

Ugh I used to be bullied and I just can't with it, there are no excuses whatsoever for it.

It just shows there is a huge problem that is not being dealt with here:
Parents are not paying enough attention to their children
The school/societal system is placing too much pressure on them and they're acting out

[saphbluedreams.livejournal.com]

Srsly? This is disgusting.

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

"even burying the student in the ground, treating him like a slave. Kim was forced to deliver his allowance, homework and an online game character. Bullies even knew the door lock number of Kim’s place, frequenting the house uninvited. "

Im sorry but this is a straight out offence and the Police should have been brought in. If this happened to my child I'd make the School and the Kids pay. But this Asia, this shit happens alot. Now look at the school cover their tracks by claiming it had nothing to do with them.

[embroideredkiss.livejournal.com]

To all the people asking where the bullies parents are and why don't they stop them....at the elementary school I'm at here in Korea 99% of the "bad kids" sadly/stereotypically come from broken homes - no mothers/stepfathers/live with grandmothers/etc.....and whenever these kids do something bad enough for their family to get called in to talk about it, half of them don't turn up and the other half just sit there and look bored and don't give a shit.

Not saying that broken homes are the cause of this behaviour or that the kids should be excused because of it, but certainly in Korea the two seem to go hand in hand.

[lainmyownworld.livejournal.com]

do they mean actual blackmail?
or a piece of black mail?

either way, bullying in korea is dramatic.~

[lainmyownworld.livejournal.com]

My parents knew everything that fucking happened in my life/where I was up until I was like, 16. I just don't understand how parents can be so oblivious.

[jaghatar.livejournal.com]

koreans in general are kind of mean spirited. just look at all the crap knetizens pull

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

sadly true.

[talklikeazombie.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing a video once of a Japanese girl getting bullied really bad by a bunch of other girls and it sparked a lot of anger on the internet. I think it'd be a good idea to record what bullies are doing, at least for the sake of having proof and being able to show it to authorities. Korea was ready to murder some random lady that was recorded not picking up her dog's poo, I'm sure it would take action against a video of bullying.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

There was even a movie (Diary of June) made about school bullying (with some graphic scenes of what the kid went through) back in 2005 and it doesn't seem to have made a difference :/

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has been releasing the number of students treated as an outcast by classmates at school ... from 1,279 in 2008 to 1505 in 2010


Where are they getting these numbers? There was one ostracized kid in almost every class when I went to school, and that was over 10 years ago. That's something like 45 bullied kids in the whole school, since we had an average of 15 classes per grade.

[elizajet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, their numbers are totally off. I've taught in Korea for awhile, and it's definitely at least one in most classes.

[lonelymoon.livejournal.com]

Hearing shit like what has been mentioned in the article as well as what you guys have gone through makes me never want to have kids, honestly. I don't know how I'd be able to handle raising a child in the kind of world where people think pulling off crap like this is ok. I'm not the nicest person in the world, I'll freely admit to that, but physical violence like this sickens me, especially in children who are barely able to defend themselves and adults too pussy-whipped to stand up against them or see what's going on under their eyes.

[sugarbunnyxx.livejournal.com]

I'm half Korean, and honestly I have no idea what the fuck is wrong with Koreans.
Keep in mind, I'm talking about the majority here, I'm sure there are deviants to my argument, but most Korean students seem to have a high inclination to bully and a high tolerance for bullying.
I would NEVER put my child in a Korean school system, and I would NEVER go to Korean school myself because most Koreans are racist, bullying types, or just too fucking nationalistic and prideful that they can't see what they are doing.
I'm not sure if it is because they are raised in such a conservative place, but Korean students are crazy, man. There is so much bullying and intense shit going on in schools and nobody does crap about it.