Before students committed suicide, 97 percent of schools took measures to prevent suicide, but failed to prevent students from making such a choice. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of teenagers making the extreme choice to end their own life before becoming adults is on the rise.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Education to Rep. Kim Hyun-ah, a total of 549 students have killed themselves over the past four years.
When analyzing the data by year, the number of teenagers committing suicide increased by 55 percent over the four-year period from 93 in 2015 to 144 in 2018. This year, 90 students had committed suicide as of August.
High school students accounted for the majority of the suicides at 67.2 percent, followed by 29.8 percent for middle school students and 3 percent for elementary school students.
As to the cause of suicide, family feuds were the most common origin at 26 percent. The comparable figures were 18.3 percent for depression, including pessimism, and 12.7 percent for stress related to grades and studies.
Before students committed suicide, 97 percent of schools took measures to prevent suicide, but failed to prevent students from making such a choice.
“The government should make active efforts to prepare a specialized support system for a dedicated management system at the education office and a hospital connection system in case of emergencies,” Kim said.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
