It was a freezing afternoon with biting cold winter wind when we paid a visit to the Seoul National University Hospital for Children to meet Professor Kim Boong-nyeon who has been working at the Department of Psychiatry. The sunlight through the windows was particularly warm and the unique alcohol smell from the building was producing peculiar tensions. Kim looked meticulous and calm with his doctor’s gown and glasses which made me feel as if he could read my mind. The interview began with his comment that the school violence was resulted from the school culture.

Create a healthy school culture

Q.School violence has been getting more serious. What do you think are the most fundamental problems?

A.We have to change our perspectives on the school violence. It would not give us any solution if we approach this problem from assailant versus victim. We need more concrete research on the causes and criteria than what we have done before.

The school culture should be improved not merely in the personal level but as a problem in education itself. Since the school culture is a sort of sociocultural reflection, a school reflects our inherent insensitivity in violence and the backwardness which a physical power is given preferential treatment in the current society. Namely, the adults should change their mind. The outdated culture of the adults has been making the children into a victim.

Expand art education

Q.I wonder if you think that the art education can be a solution to reduce school violence.

A.To provide a mental health education through the art education does not necessarily mean that we create a separate course.
It ought to be naturally integrated into the regular courses such as Korean class or society class. For instance, we can let the students participate in debate after reading an essay on outcast during Korean class, or let them experience visual disability and do some role play regarding school education during society class.

The art education is helpful even in the case a child gets to have a disposition toward violence due to his/her congenital problem. When we scan the brain of the students who repeat harmful act with MRI, considerable cases reveal that the frontal lobe of their brain has declined sympathy function. They are unable to properly recognize any agony and sadness of the others by their facial expressions.

The art education is not simply effective to ease the school violence. Around 5~10% of Korean students have been suffering from ADHD. These kids have too much energy. The problem is that there is no way to release this energy in the classroom. And they come to be branded as trouble makers. But some of them boast their excellent talent in physical education class, fine art class, or other classes which are focused on solving problems through debate. They are sometimes far more creative than the ordinary students, which proves that the art education helps even those who have congenital behavior disorder to change their weakness into strength.

It is incontrovertible that the violence will obviously be diminished once the school culture is filled with ability to sympathize, and that the art education will play a significant role.
It is time to get away from the illusion that good students at school will increase the competitiveness of our society. The modern society is no longer the kind of ‘Follow me’ just like in the military culture. Diverse, fun, and creative ideas are more important than any other things at this moment. If we want to realize the limitation of the quantitative growth and attempt to achieve a qualitative growth, different goals of school education and assessment system are inevitable. And the significance of the art education should be much more reinforced than now. We should not forget that today’s youth and young children are the future of Korea in 30 years.

Written & Photographed by Jeong Minyoung