School Safety Central Association Celebrates 19th Anniversary with Focus on Prevention

The School Safety Central Association, which has served as a strong support for educational institutions nationwide since the enactment of the School Safety Act in 2007, marked its 19th anniversary by hosting a large-scale communication event aimed at transforming safety culture.

On August 27, the association held the event titled '2026 Creating a Safe School Together' at the aT Center in Yangjae, Seoul, attended by over 300 students, parents, educators, education authorities, and experts.

This event went beyond a simple ceremony, sharing school safety policies and prevention messages through content tailored to students, and aimed to spread a prevention-focused safety culture that resonates with all educational stakeholders. Attendees included elementary, middle, and high school students, university students, officials from the Ministry of Education and local education offices, as well as safety experts and related organizations.

The program featured a variety of activities, including an awards ceremony for the School Safety Accident Data Analysis and Utilization Competition and the Safe School Contest, a forum on the development of school safety statistics, guest lectures, presentations on the direction and examples of safety education content (Future School Safety Forum), and exhibitions and experience zones for school safety content.

In his opening remarks and congratulatory speech, Chairman Jeong Hoon expressed deep gratitude to the Ministry of Education, the 17 local education offices, and teachers for their hard work in the educational field, while encouraging participants in the competitions and contests to take on a leading role.

He stated, "Safety in South Korea is a collective effort involving the Ministry of Education, the 17 local education offices, and all individual school teachers. We have been hosting the 'Safe School Contest' in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to respond to numerous accidents occurring in educational settings, and we have continued the data competition for four years to recognize the importance of school safety data." He emphasized that over 300 teams participated in this year's competitions and contests.

Chairman Jeong particularly addressed the award-winning students, saying, "Those receiving awards today have overcome fierce competition with odds of 7 to 1 and 8 to 1. More than 200 teams did not receive awards. I hope you will not only celebrate your achievement but also return to your schools to share the importance of safety with your peers. The association will work hard to ensure your safety, the future of South Korea."

He added, "School safety cannot be achieved by the efforts of specific institutions or individuals alone; it requires the involvement and interest of students, parents, educators, and related organizations. The association will create a virtuous cycle where students participate as safety agents, data leads to preventive policies, and field experiences are reflected back into policy."

During the school safety awards ceremony, winners of the '2026 School Safety Accident Data Analysis and Utilization Competition' and the 13th Safe School Contest were announced.

The data competition was divided into poster categories for elementary, middle, and high school students and a report category for university students.

In the poster category, the grand prize (Minister of Education Award) was awarded to the SYS team (Shim Ji-won, Busan Hyewha Elementary School). The excellence award (Director of National Data Agency Award) went to the School Safety Guardians in the elementary category, the Special Safety Research Institute in the middle school category, and Prosperity in the high school category. In the report category, the grand prize (Minister of Education Award) was awarded to the Namoo team (Lee Seung-hyuk, Kookmin University), while the excellence award (Director of National Data Agency Award) was given to the Neodo?Nado! team (Lee Do-yoon, Gachon University).

A total of 26 teams received awards from the Minister of Education, the Director of the National Data Agency, the Chair of the Korea Association of Superintendents, and the Chairman of the School Safety Central Association. In the 13th Safe School Contest, 48 teams were honored across three categories: the School Safety Choir Competition, the Traffic Safety Challenge, and Excellent Cases of Safety Education. Awards included those from the Minister of Education, the Minister of the Interior and Safety, the Chair of the Korea Association of Superintendents, the Chair of the Viewer Media Foundation, the Chair of the Korean Educational Broadcasting System, and the Chairman of the School Safety Central Association. The award-winning choir team also performed to celebrate, conveying the importance of school safety through their songs. Students demonstrated their transition from being mere "subjects of protection" to becoming "agents of safety" through the content and performances they created.

The School Safety Statistics Development Forum, a special session on school safety, featured expert presentations and discussions aimed at improving the quality of school safety accident statistics and expanding their policy applicability. The forum discussed the current state of school safety statistics, the direction of national approved statistics, and topics such as accidents occurring in shared spaces and compensation status, design directions for accident prevention, and the development direction of school safety accident and compensation statistics.

Dr. Lee Soo-yeon from the association's education statistics team presented on the topic 'Revisiting School Safety Accidents through Graphs.' She emphasized the need to critically examine the oversimplified tendency in media to equate an increase in accident numbers with a failure of safety measures, arguing for a systematic understanding of qualitative changes in accident types and compensation structures beyond mere quantitative aspects. Dr. Lee proposed developing in-depth analytical indicators that can systematically grasp the structural significance of accidents and compensations, leading to a refined prevention system.

Participants from the Ministry of Education, the National Data Agency, field educators, and experts shared broad opinions on how to utilize school safety statistics not just as a means to confirm accident occurrences but as foundational data for analyzing causes and identifying risk factors to design effective preventive policies.

In the guest lecture segment, Professor Yoo Seong-ho from Seoul National University’s Department of Forensic Medicine delivered a talk on 'Causes of Drug-Related Accidents and Forensic Judgments.' He examined the main causes and cases of drug-related accidents from a forensic perspective and provided insights for accident prevention and response.

Following the lecture, a Q&A session with attendees took place. The Future School Safety Forum introduced the Student Safety Self-Assessment Tool (SSA) and presented examples of safety education content developed for 2026, considering the characteristics of general, multicultural, and disabled students. Discussions focused on the applicability and development direction of tailored safety education reflecting individual student characteristics and school conditions. This approach aims to advance school safety education from providing uniform safety education to diagnosing student characteristics and risk factors and offering necessary educational interventions.

The exhibition and experience zone for school safety on the 5th floor lobby of the aT Center showcased award-winning works from the contests and data competition, safety education content, and videos. Attendees engaged with school safety content through various interactive programs, including a school safety quiz zone, an SNS certification event zone, and a photo zone, making the concept of school safety more accessible and relatable.

The School Safety Central Association plans to continue expanding student participation in safety education and data-driven preventive policies in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, local education offices, and related organizations, while consistently strengthening prevention-focused school safety policies that can be felt in the field.