A shocking school violence incident has once again revealed the difficulties facing victims of bullying and the prejudice of the Korean internet. After a high school student in South Jeolla Province urinated on a classmates face, the school has been criticized for being slow to address the problem and unwilling to investigate the seriousness of bullying within its walls. The fact that the incident occurred in Jeolla added to the disgust from conservative netizens, who tend to associate the province with crazy left wing politics, brutality, and a lack of development.

Article from Nate:

Bullies urinate on a child’s face…delays in exposing schoolyard assault

South Jeolla Office of Education acknowledges seriousness of allegations and launches an inquiry.

[Gwangju] Reporter – Maeng Dae Hwan

High school seniors have sadistically assaulted a sophomore in a school dormitory in South Jeolla province, even going so far as to urinate on his face. The parents of the victim have complained that the school waited too long to inform them of the situation.

However, controversy remains over what facts were omitted when the assault was first reported to the regional supervisory institution, the South Jeolla Office of Education.

The Office of Education reported on the 15th that the assailant was Student A, an 18-year-old high school senior who resided in the school dormitory. Along with two other seniors, he assaulted Student B, a 17-year-old sophomore who lived in the same dormitory. From March until June, they stole Student B’s phone and forced him to run errands for them.

In April, Student A approached Student B while he was lying in his dormitory room and proceeded to urinate on his face.

Unable to stand the assaults, Student B recently revealed to his home room teacher what had happened to him. Within the past four days, the high school has established a School Assault Task Force. The three offending students, including Student A, have faced disciplinary action. They have all been suspended and will transfer schools.

However, controversy has erupted as neither the parents of the victim nor the South Jeolla Office of Education were informed of the urination incident.

The victim’s parents heard only that their child had been assaulted, and that the School Assault Task Force had taken disciplinary action against the offending students. They had agreed to put the matter to rest, but after learning of the incident they strongly protested.

The Office of Education was also in the dark regarding the details of the incident. On finding out the full facts, an inquiry was launched.

An individual connected with the South Jeolla Office of Education has clarified that “general harassment and urinating on somebody’s face constitute two different dimensions of violence. This is a serious matter, and an investigation is underway to establish the facts. Appropriate policy measures are being taken.”

An individual connected with the high school has said that “the School Assault Task force has confirmed that Student B had his face urinated on, and that this fact was not conveyed to the parents or the regional Office of Education. To prevent further assaults at the school, we have arranged for a teacher to reside in the dormitory along with the students.”

In addition to this latest incident, last month on the 27th the same high school suspended a senior student after he assaulted two freshmen in the dormitory. The reason given for the assault was that the freshmen ‘showed no manners’.

Comments from Nate:

rhy0****:

I checked where these rotten kids come from… Oh right, Gwangju…

para****:

Those kids should have to drink their own piss, that’ll make them come to their senses

thml****:

The Student’s Rights Act? Whose rights are being protected? Start by shoving the Youth Protection Law in the garbage and getting rid of juvenile detention. Give youth criminals the same treatment as you would adults. In American juvenile detention the thing that has the biggest impact on youths is when they’re told that they will get thrown in with the adults. If you just say that one thing, they get scared and shape up.

nate****:

I clicked on this thinking ‘How could kids do something so cruel?’ now I get it, they’re from Jeolla…

orth****:

If underage kids mess up, then we shouldn’t protect them like we would other underage kids. We should treat them as adults. It would be good if there was a bill passed that punishes the parents. Even if you don’t want to spare the effort, you should have to teach your kid some manners. If a kid messes up it’s the fault of the parents, not the school.

bunn****:

There are many bad things happening all over the place, but jumping on the bandwagon and saying that they only happen in Jeolla? Jeolla? Really, stop with the regionalism. Thanks to your bitching, even people not bothered with regional attachment are put off from travelling to Jeolla, or they just start hating it. This is insane brainwashing. These days only incidents occurring in Jeolla get a lot of press. Even in the past there were other things occurring in other regions… you’re really hating on Jeolla. If you keep this up you saekkis, Jeolla and the rest of the country will be split like North and South Korea. If Jeolla is only full of bastards like this, then do only murderers live in Yongin? Only Ilbe bugs live in Daegu? Are you happy if we talk like that? We all share a small space so stop pointing fingers at each other!

sunj****:

Students! Do kids around you assault you or laugh while they regularly torment you?

Those kids are psychopaths. Because they have mental problems they get pleasure from inflicting torment on others, and they don’t know the fear of being assaulted. They are really lacking in emotional empathy to pain. Do not feel any kind of guilt toward this type of psychopath, just report them. These people need psychiatric help.

econ****:

I’m surprised… this is overseas right..

kill****:

Jeolla….

bjug****: