Elementary & Middle Schools Issue “School Violence” Warnings, “Don’t Copy ‘Pyramid Game’”

According to OSEN on March 21st, a number of elementary and middle schools, mostly in Jeonju, have announced a “Guidance letter to prevent the spread of ‘Pyramid Game’.”

The guidance letter said, “The phenomenon of group bullying disguised as a game is spreading in schools due to TVING’s recently released series ‘Pyramid Gamge’”, adding “‘Pyramid Game’ deals with the school violence issues in class and school. It depicts a game in which students are divided into ranks based on a vote and students in higher ranks can bully students in lower ranks”.

It emphasized, “Starting as a game, the ‘Pyramid Game’ is likely to produce serious school violence (group bullying) that harms specific targets”, adding “We ask for active engagement and guidance from parents so that a game freely played among the students don’t become seeds for crimes”.

TVING’s original series “Pyramid Game”, which aired the last episode on March 21st, centers around the brutal survival of students in Class 2-5 at Baekyeon Girls’ High School as they gradually fall into school violence by participating in a game that divides the class into perpetrators, victims, and bystanders through a monthly vote.

Based on a popular webtoon of the same name, “Pyramid Game” shows the students being ranked from grades A to F in a vote. Lower-ranking students are subject to harassment, such as cleaning the classroom, serving meals, and becoming targets of emotional attacks. This game portrays a classroom as a miniature version of real society to reflect issues in real life and draw sympathy from viewers.

In the last episode, “Pyramid Game”, the female lead Sung Su-ji (Kim Ji-yeon) and the students of Class 2-5 voluntarily put an end to the game, giving thrill and touching moments to viewers. However, it also led to concerns over the side effects of the school violence story.