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According to the 'Current Status of Measures to Protect Students Victims of School Violence' submitted by the Ministry of Education to Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Hyun-young on May 28th, the medical expenses for victims of school violence last year were 4. 154.64 million won, 1.5 times more than in 2019 (310.98 million won, about $270,000) before the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Compared to 2021, which recorded 279.48 million won (about $220,000), is an increase of 62.7%. In 2020, the medical expenses for school violence victims were 269.09 million won (about $210,000).
Such an increasing trend is believed to be due to the rebound after a significant decrease due to the corona pandemic. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of deliberations by school violence deliberation committees, which stood at 31,130 in 2019, dropped sharply to 8,357 in 2020 after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Since then, the number of cases increased to 15,653 in 2021, and is on the rise again to 23,602 in 2022.
According to the current School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act and the School Safety Accident Prevention and Compensation Act, students who are determined to be victims by the committee are eligible for school safety mutual aid. You can receive support for treatment expenses from the association. The School Safety Mutual Aid Association pays in advance the medical expenses of school violence victims and provides psychological counseling to the victims. Looking at treatment for victims of school violence over the past five years, 582 victims received treatment last year, 108 more than in 2019 (474) and 155 more than in 2021 (427).
In particular, compared to last year's deliberations (23,602 cases), only 2.47% (582 students) of the students who were victims actually received medical treatment subsidies, suggesting that more active support is needed. According to the School Violence Prevention Law and the School Safety Law, parents of victimized students can directly claim medical expenses from the mutual aid association, but the principal's seal is required when submitting the claim form prepared by the parents. Moreover, it is pointed out that it is troublesome to attach necessary documents such as △ medical expense statements △ original medical certificate △ copy of the bankbook of claimant. "It is not easy for the parents of victims to handle the medical expense claim process and prepare the necessary documents," said Park Nam-ki, an education professor at Gwangju University of Education.
In fact, the victim of the son of lawyer Jung Seung-shin received treatment for school violence, including being hospitalized at the time of the incident, but received no support for treatment costs. In response to this, in March of this year, Do Jong-hwan and the Democratic Party lawmaker's office said, "We needed the perpetrator's personal information to apply for medical expenses, but the process of obtaining consent to provide information was difficult. It looks like we weren't able to apply."
Rep. Shin Hyun-young said, "As the number of deliberations on school violence is increasing, we need sufficient support for victims. We need to make it possible to prevent school violence, deal with it early, and deal with it after it happens."
2023/06/04 09:42 KST
