From what I understand it's mainly that there is a lot of pressure for young people to get academic achievements and there is a lot of importance put on studies and grades. So in turn, if a student does something horrible, a lot of people have the mind of "oh but we wouldn't want to destroy the future of a promising young student" so cases of bullying are handled very leniently.
im not korean so idk much abt how bad the bullying is, but i do think it actually is that bad. i mean, ofc, some of it is exaggeration but it surely stems from reality. s.korea is very racist, misogynist, sexist country with people favoring lookism (pretty people) and classism. so it's genuinely that bad (movie: parasite is one eg). why do u think #4B movement started in s.korea? it's genuinely not good there.
the way i view it, its like generalizing american schools based on Euphoria
i mean based on the news, school bullying in south korea really is that serious. theres even workplace bullying. but these days ppl are more woke and govt are trying to take it srs now. even getting caught bullying someone in middle school can even mess up your college admissions years later. but the rich kids usually get away with it. so yeah, what we see in manhwas is based on reality, but the really violent, extreme stuff like knocking someones teeth out or breaking their legs isnt the norm. whats much more common is being isolated, ignored, looked down on for having lower grades, having malicious rumors spread, and cyberbullying. that said, there are still some really extreme cases every now and then. thats also why when a celebrity gets accused of bullying (esp school bullying) even if its just a rumor, they can get their career ended overnight
Sometimes I read these stories (romance) and I just think, is Korea actually this bad? Like, the bullying in these stories is so extreme and there are never any consequences.
I understand not wanting to go to teachers or parents, but I feel like when the bullying is that bad you have to, there is no way these bullies are getting off free, right? I also always see the excuse that they're the kids of rich people but is that enough, but maybe in Korea it is.
Like I'm talking about knocking peoples teeth out and breaking legs but apparently the school just doesn't care. Honestly, maybe America is right about the whole guns thing. For some of these characters I low key think they might deserve getting shot.