Where Is the Line for School Violence at Age 7? Supreme Court's Ruling on Pushing a Friend

The Supreme Court has ruled that when determining whether an incident constitutes school violence, courts must comprehensively consider not only the definition of school violence but also the age and relationship of the students involved.

The Supreme Court finalized a ruling against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by an elementary school student, identified as A, who sought to cancel an administrative appeals decision regarding school violence against a regional education office on September 3.

The case dates back to 2023.

At the time, student B, who was in the same first-grade class, pushed student A off an 80-centimeter-high podium during an after-school class in the school's multipurpose room, causing injuries.

The local education office's school violence countermeasures deliberation committee decided the following year that B's action constituted school violence and issued a written apology measure, which the head of the education office subsequently administered.

Objecting to the measure, student B's side filed an administrative appeal asking for the measure to be revoked. The education office's administrative appeals committee rendered a decision revoking the measure, stating that it was difficult to view the incident as school violence.

In response, student A's side filed a lawsuit in court seeking to overturn the appeals committee's decision. The first instance court ruled that pushing someone from the podium constituted school violence and canceled the appeals decision.

The first instance court reasoned that at the age of entering elementary school, children would know that pushing a peer from that height could cause injury and that such behavior should not be done.

However, the second instance court ruled that the act did not constitute school violence, explaining that it was "difficult to view it as having reached a level where a student merely 7 years old needed to be guided through measures under the law, or as behavior that should be treated as school violence."

The Supreme Court also agreed with the second instance ruling.

The Supreme Court emphasized that courts must "comprehensively consider the severity of the act, the circumstances of its occurrence, the context before and after, as well as the need for the protection of the victim and the guidance and education of the perpetrator, taking into account their ages and relationships."

The Supreme Court further pointed out that "if any behavior that appears to fit 'an act entailing physical, mental, or property damage' under the School Violence Prevention Act is deemed to constitute school violence, then all conflicts or disputes arising between students in school life would fall under school violence."

(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)

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