School Violence in 2026: Elementary Victims Surge 2.5 Times – What Parents Need to Know

Reports indicate a sharp increase in school bullying among elementary students, with both verbal abuse and physical violence rising substantially.

On the 19th, the Blue Tree Foundation, a nonprofit specializing in school-violence prevention, released the results of its 2026 National School Violence Survey. The survey was conducted from Nov. 3 to Dec. 31 last year and polled 8,476 students in elementary, middle and high schools across 17 cities and provinces.

The survey found that 6.2% of all students reported experiencing school violence. The share among elementary students surged from 4.9% in 2023 to 12.5% last year — roughly a 2.5-fold increase. In the same period, the rate rose among middle school students from 1.7% to 3.4% and among high school students from 1.2% to 1.6%.

Kim Mi-jung, head of counseling at the Blue Tree Foundation, said elementary students often blur the line between rough play and violence. She noted that children may initially see incidents as play and only later recognize them as harmful.

Thought it was play... 'Physical violence' highest in seven years

By type, verbal abuse was the most common, at 23.8%. Physical violence climbed sharply to 17.9% from 10.6% in 2023, reaching its highest level since 2019. Cyberbullying accounted for 14.5%.

The survey also found that incidents linked to online gaming made up 39.9% of cases and are rising rapidly. Among those who experienced cyberbullying, 95.7% reported also being victimized offline.

Only 49.4% of victims said they sought help from people around them after the incident, a steep decline from 74.5% in 2022. Meanwhile, the share of students who asked for help but reported that nothing happened rose to 33%.

When asked whether they witnessed bullying and did nothing, 54.6% of students said they remained silent. The most common reason given for not intervening was that they did not know how to help.

Victims identified the absence of an apology from the perpetrator as the top unresolved issue. Some 50.8% of victims said the problem remained unresolved because they had not received an apology, and 79.8% said the most needed support was a sincere apology from the offender.

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