Schools took stern measures against in-campus violence coupled with strengthened prevention efforts for the first half of this year, a survey showed Friday.

The education ministry announced the results of its second nationwide survey conducted between August and October, following the first one earlier this year, involving the country’s 11,000 elementary, middle and high schools. The result of the same survey on students’ experience of violence was released last month.

The online survey aimed to grasp an exact picture of the unrelenting school violence and to devise measures in the wake of a series of suicides committed by young victims last year, the ministry said.

According to the survey, a total of 17,970 rounds of autonomous commissions on school violence were held nationwide for the first half of this year, which outnumber 13,680 for last year as a whole.

The commission, tasked with deciding upon punishable measures against bullies, involves teachers, parents and outside experts in general.

Of this year’s meetings, 53.2 percent, or 10,368 rounds, dealt with physical assaults among students, followed by threats with 15 percent and forcing them to some favor with 4.6 percent, it showed.

Some 47.9 percent of measures following the meetings this year were about changing the circumstances the bullies face and forcing them to participate in reformation activities led by outside groups. Other measures were for special education or psychological treatments (20.2 percent), social service activities (11.5 percent), suspension of attendance (10.7 percent), transferring to another school (5.2 percent) and expulsion (0.3 percent), according to the survey.

The students who faced the aforementioned punishments also have the relevant facts documented on their permanent records and kept on file for five years after graduation.

Relatively lighter punishments against violent students included written apology for the victims with 20.1 percent, in-school services with 20.2 percent and verbal warning with 10.2 percent, the survey showed.

As part of efforts to prevent school violence, schools also allocated an average of 26.8 hours to educate students to raise awareness on the matter, up by 18.6 hours for last year, according to the survey. (Yonhap News)