School violence reports hit record high of 2.9% among students
A government survey shows 2.9% of primary, middle and high school students reported experiencing school violence, the highest level since 2013.
The Ministry of Education announced results of the 2026 first school violence survey, revealing that 2.9% of surveyed students have experienced bullying, the steepest rise in six years and the highest figure since the study began in 2013. The online questionnaire was administered from April 14 to May 13 to roughly 3.9 million pupils from fourth grade through third year of high school, achieving an 81.9% participation rate.
Elementary school students reported the highest victimization at 5.7%, surpassing the previous year’s 5.0% record, while middle school and high school rates rose to 2.3% and 0.8% respectively. The most frequent type of abuse was verbal violence (37.8%), with group exclusion, physical assault and cyber-bullying also noted. Experts linked the trend to increased digital device use and reduced face-to-face interaction, prompting plans to strengthen responses to new forms of bullying such as forced fights recorded on video.
How this was covered
- The two sides describe this in almost entirely different words
