About one out of every 100 students attending primary, middle and high school have recently experienced school violence, a poll showed Thursday, a decline from earlier this year amid the government's efforts to eradicate the problem.
   
The survey conducted by the Ministry of Education jointly with city and provincial educational offices showed that 1.2 percent of the respondents answered they have suffered violence at school, slightly down from 1.4 percent in the first survey conducted this year.
  
The latest poll surveyed 4.1 million students ranging from fourth-graders of elementary schools to high school sophomores from Sept. 15 to Oct. 24. 
   
In the biannual survey, the rate of students who said they have experienced school violence has been on a downward slide from 12.3 percent in the first half of 2012 to 2.2 percent in the first half of 2013 and to 1.4 percent in the first half of this year.
  
Elementary school students and male students are more likely to be victims of school violence than high school students and female students, the survey showed.
  
Verbal abuse was the most frequent type of school violence, followed by ostracism, beating, stalking, cyber bullying and financial extortion, in that order, according to the survey. 
  
In the wake of a series of suicide cases by students being bullied by their classmates in 2012, the government has been making efforts to root out violence at schools and encouraging students not to hide any suffering but to ask for help to actively seek solutions. (Yonhap)