Problems and Improvements in the School Violence Review Committee

After the revision of the School Violence Prevention Act, the autonomy committee established in schools was changed to a review committee established in the Education Support Agency. This study analyzed the problems of the changed council and explored ways to improve it. To this end, focus group interviews(FGIs) were conducted with deliberative council members in Busan and Gyeongnam and analyzed. The results of the study reiterated the problems of the autonomous council, which include the bias and unprofessionalism of parent members, formalized operation, passive action against victimized students, and inconsistent action against perpetrators. New problems were identified, such as passive response by the school, transfer to the investigator, concealment and reduction of private schools, delayed deliberations, appointment of the chairperson in favor of the principal, abuse of the role of the secretary, inducing the chairperson to take action, and biased reappointment. Recommendations for improvement included reducing the number of parent members through legislative amendments, improving the reappointment process, reviewing the criteria for taking action against offending students, and improving the selection method for chairpersons.