1 in 3 young students felt suicidal due to academic burden: poll
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- Nearly one out of three middle and high school students in South Korea mulled suicide over the past year due to academic burden, a survey showed Monday.
In a poll of 5,669 middle and high school students conducted by the state-run National Youth Policy Institute from July to October last year, 27 percent said they had thought of taking their own life within the last year. By gender, 35 percent of female students said so, compared with 19.6 percent of male students.
Asked about the reasons for thinking of suicide, 39.8 percent cited academic problems, such as school grades and academic stress, followed by anxiety about the future and career (25.5 percent), family conflict (16 percent), conflicts with fellow students (4.8 percent) and economic difficulty (1.7 percent), the poll showed.
The ratios of students mulling suicide slightly differed depending on economic level, the institute said.
When economic level is divided into upper, middle and lower, 43.6 percent of students in the upper level thought of suicide, compared with 39.3 percent for the middle level and 29.3 percent for the lower level.
The survey was conducted with the aim of examining the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the Korean government in 1991, and promoting the human rights of children and youth.
It also polled 2,954 elementary school students from fourth to sixth grades.
Twenty-seven percent of all 8,623 students said they have felt sad or depressed for no reason over the past year, while 23.6 percent said they had felt the urge to quit school.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
Top court upholds life sentence for woman over drowning death of husband for insurance money
-
Late wife of Australian veteran of Korean War laid to rest in Busan
-
Remains of another Korean War soldier identified
-
(LEAD) Fighter jet crashes in Seosan; pilot makes emergency escape
-
Fighter jet crashes in Seosan; pilot makes emergency escape
-
Late wife of Australian veteran of Korean War laid to rest in Busan
-
Top court upholds life sentence for woman over drowning death of husband for insurance money
-
24 teachers caught illegally selling exam questions to private educators
-
Remains of another Korean War soldier identified
-
(LEAD) Fighter jet crashes in Seosan; pilot makes emergency escape
-
(LEAD) Family of 5 found dead in 3 separate locations
-
(LEAD) Opposition party leader ends 24-day hunger strike for treatment
-
(4th LD) Xi says he will seriously consider visit to South Korea: official
-
(5th LD) Xi says he will seriously consider visit to South Korea: official
-
Family of 5 found dead in 3 separate locations