If close friends hit and swear at each other, wouldn't it be 'school violence'? The court ruling is

A student who had been disciplined for school violence for hitting, bullying, and swearing at a fellow schoolmate filed an administrative lawsuit and won.

On December 5 last year, the 1st Administrative Department of Suwon District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Group A against the superintendent of an education support office in Gyeonggi Province to cancel the school violence disciplinary action.

In 2023, Person A was handed over to the School Violence Countermeasures Review Committee on charges of hitting his school friend Person B's body parts and engaging in verbal abuse, and received a written apology, a ban on contact, threats, and retaliation, and 4 hours of volunteer work at school.

However, Group A objected to this decision and filed an administrative lawsuit against the Office of Education. At the time of the incident, he maintained a close relationship with Boy B, and only played a prank on a close friend and never committed school violence.

The defendant immediately refuted the claim. He refuted that Group A's violence was mild at first, but gradually became more severe, and that considering the level of abusive language directed at Group B, it was fair to regard it as a case of school violence.

The court judged that somewhat excessive punishment was imposed on Group A. The court said, "The plaintiff's increasing intensity of hitting the victim's body and swearing at her constitutes school violence as defined by the old School Violence Prevention Act," but stated, "The victim maintained a close relationship with the plaintiff until the relationship was severed, and these acts took place at a time when they were maintaining a friendship."

He added, “During this process, the victim did not actively express her refusal, and the plaintiff did not harass her further after the relationship was severed.”

Attorney Kim Young-joo of Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan), the litigation representative for Group A, said, "In the process of taking action regarding school violence, care must be taken to ensure that the rights of not only the victim but also the offending student are not unfairly violated. The two students were close friends at the time, teasing each other and using profanity. However, it is not right to conclude that all actions prior to the report were school violence."

Reporter Hwang Jeong-won (jwhwang@mt.co.kr)

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Isn't it 'school violence' if close friends hit and swear at each other? The court ruling is (link)