The Ministry of Education announced on September 15 that it would operate 276 model schools for preventing school violence.
Among them, 46 will voluntarily operate as “schools without smartphones,” where students put down their smartphones and focus on activities with their peers.
The key point is that use is regulated according to methods determined by members of each school, rather than through blanket collection.
3-Line Summary
1. 46 of the 276 model schools are participating
2. Smartphones will not be collected across the board
3. Agreements reached by each school are central to operations
“Schools Without Smartphones” Are Not a Mandatory Collection Policy
The Ministry of Education designated 276 schools as model schools for the Eoullim Plus school-violence prevention program through an open application process conducted by 16 provincial and metropolitan offices of education nationwide. This initiative moves beyond one-time prevention education aimed only at students and uses an approach in which teachers, students, and parents participate together.
The schools without smartphones operating at 46 schools are not a system for collecting students’ smartphones across the board. Specific methods—such as whether to store them separately or allow students to keep them personally—will be decided by each school through agreement among students, teachers, and parents. In other words, the plan is not to apply one method of restricting smartphone use identically across schools nationwide.
The direction presented by the Ministry of Education is to increase peer play and arts and physical-education activities during the time students have put down their smartphones. Rather than focusing only on blocking use, the idea is to help students build relationships through other activities.
School-Violence Prevention Classes Are Combined with Student Participation
Teachers at the model schools will connect school-violence prevention education with subjects and creative experiential activities, conducting at least 11 class periods per class. Lessons cover empathy, communication, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution, while defensive behaviors that help victimized students in school-violence situations are also practiced through role-playing and other activities.
Students can participate in the “Eoullim Student Supporters” and peer counseling activities. In coordination with student councils and clubs, they can directly plan prevention activities and take on roles listening to and helping friends with their concerns.
When conflicts are discovered within the school, the “Sairo” activity will also be introduced. It consists of three stages: “See,” recognizing conflict; “Stand,” supporting students who feel uncomfortable; and “Connect,” linking them to necessary assistance from teachers or parents. For minor school-violence cases, the relationship-recovery deliberation program, which helps restore relationships before deliberation, will also be expanded.
Operating Methods Will Still Be Determined by Each School
Parents will be provided with short video content on topics including cyberbullying, online gambling, smart-device use, and communication with their children. Schools without smartphones are also part of a plan to address student life not only within the school but in connection with the home.
The Ministry of Education plans to distribute a guide for operating schools without smartphones to schools during the fourth week of this month. It also announced plans to expand the model schools to 400 in 2027. However, because the storage methods and scope of participation at the 46 schools may vary according to agreements reached by each educational community, it is important to check each school’s guidance.
References
Tags #SchoolsWithoutSmartphones #SmartphoneUse #SchoolViolencePrevention #MinistryOfEducation #ModelSchools #EoullimPlus #PeerCounseling #Sairo #RelationshipRecoveryDeliberation #StudentCouncil #SmartDeviceUse #ParentEducation