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The self-styled Iljinhoe, schoolyard gangs that are beginning to organize themselves into a nationwide network, put on obscene performances at rock cafes, a middle school teacher has testified. The gangs have gone so far as to hold an open rally, and it is not difficult to imagine how much disruption they can bring to the classroom and how they intimidate their peers.
A seminar on school violence on Wednesday heard how four Iljinhoe girl students assaulted a fellow student in the bathroom of a certain Seoul middle school in March last year on grounds that she was arrogant. They took turns hitting her repeatedly in the face, the stomach and the legs. Such violent behavior is no different from that of gangsters.
In some schools, seniors that are part of an Iljinhoe gang are said to extract regular bribes from second graders, who in turn take bribes from first graders. Because they are aware that minors under 14 are exempted from criminal persecution, it is said, older students let younger ones extort money from other students and pass it on to them. Even if the victims of schoolyard violence move to other schools, they find themselves subject to harassment by the Iljinhoe there, who have been put in the picture by the first group of tormentors.
This cannot be tackled with simple guidance alone. This is not just between assailant and victim, bully and bullied, and cannot be remedied by admonishing and guiding the perpetrators. This violence is organized, it is becoming routine, and much of it takes place out of sight of authorities. We must find a more comprehensive solution.
We cannot expect to tackle violence on such an organized scale at the level of individual schools. Instead, we need a network allowing schools to share information and to benefit from the experiences of other schools. We also need cooperation with the police and the help of civic organizations.
Above all, we need a systematic investigation of what gangs exist in each school, why children join them and what they are up to.
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