Shin Ae-ra

By Alexander Tehoon Ahn

Actress Shin Ae-ra has launched a podcast to help address school violence in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

On Monday, she aired the first broadcast titled, “Pencil Case School with Shin Ae-ra.” She held a discussion with Moon Jae-hyun, an expert on school gangs and violence. Moon is head of a community education research center.

As a mother of three children, including a first-grader, Shin created the podcast to raise awareness on the prevalence of school violence, with the help of the education ministry. The podcast targets parents with children who are increasingly worried about rampant school violence across the nation.

In 2005 and 2008, Shin and her husband, Cha In-pyo, made headlines when they adopted Korean baby girls. Their case highlighted the issue of adoption in Korea. Now, she is grabbing attention as she focuses on the important issue of school violence.

During the podcast, Moon said, “All groups, the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders must be seen as third parties. If bystanders help victims of bullying, then the problem of school violence will begin to disappear,” he said.

At the end of the program, Shin added: “As a mother, my main concern is not how to solve school violence, but how to avoid it. I hope school officials and parents will reflect upon my broadcast and work together to come up with helpful ideas and strategies.”

“Pencil Case School” will be broadcasted every Wednesday, with five more episodes scheduled to come. The podcast will address diverse themes and topics each time concerning school violence and children’s education.

A ministry official said the podcast is available on a smartphone application to allow people, especially working parents, to have easier access.

It can be downloaded from the ministry’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/mest4u) and through iTunes podcasts.