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The biggest discrimination concerns for South Korean schoolchildren are disability for elementary school students, appearance for middle school students, and grades for high school students, a study shows.

Findings from a study on youth discrimination conditions released by the National Youth Policy Institute showed 3,505 of 10,450 currently enrolled students surveyed, or 33.5%, reporting experiences with discrimination. A total of 2,607 of the students, or 24.9%, reported experience with discriminating against someone else.

The students surveyed came from across South Korea and ranged from their fourth year in elementary school to third year in high school.

When asked to rank the severity of youth discrimination on a scale from one (not serious at all) to four (very serious), elementary school students rated discrimination due to disability highest at 2.23, followed by appearance (2.18) and grades (2.04). Middle school students rated discrimination by appearance highest at 2.76, followed by grades (2.75) and disability (2.66). For high school students, discrimination due to grades was viewed as far and away most severe at 3.08, followed by academic history and connections (2.98), appearance (2.95), and disability (2.74).

Among the 3,505 young people who reported experiencing discrimination, the largest portion (17.9%) gave grades as a reason. The rate of reported discrimination due to grades was also found to increase at higher grade levels: for elementary school students, it stood at just 4.7%, while for middle and high school students it was 18.3% and 27.5%, respectively. Of the 2,607 students who reported discriminating against others, the largest number (13.1%) said they had done so based on appearance.

The survey found that respondents had alerted others and requested help for discrimination against them in only 32.3% of all cases. The other 67.7% reported concealing their victimization and making no particular efforts to address the problem.

By Hwangbo Yon, staff reporter

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