hankyoreh

According to a survey of 80,000 middle and high school students conducted by the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005 and 2006, one out of 20 juveniles in South Korea attempts suicide at least once.

The survey was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources and released on March 29.

According to findings for 2006, about 5.5 percent of survey respondents attempted suicide last year, a 0.7-percentage-point increase from 4.8 percent in 2005. Second-year middle school students had the highest attempt rate at 7.2 percent, followed by third-year middle school students at 6.8 percent and high school seniors at 4.7 percent.

Still, such overall high figures may be blamed on stress caused by excessive studying and competition, experts said. According to the survey, 46.4 percent of juveniles feel stressed, as opposed to 35.1 percent of adults.

In the meantime, 12.4 percent of middle and high school girls were smokers in 2006, compared to 5.8 percent for female adults in 2005. A full 27.0 percent of 18-year-old male students smoked, more than half the rate recorded for male adults in 2005 of 52.3 percent . The average age to begin smoking dropped from 15 in 1998 to 12.4 in 2006.

About 38.5 percent of female high school seniors drank alcohol in 2006, higher than the 36.3-percent recorded for female adults in 2005. The average age for starting to drink fell to 12.6 in 2006 from 15.1 in 1998, nearly matching the starting ages for smoking.

By social class, there were differences in juvenile health behavior. About 43.6 percent of teens from families in Korea’s upper income brackets felt stressed, compared to 49.9 percent for those from families in lower income brackets. In terms of lack of exercise and smoking, juveniles from lower-income families showed poorer health habits than those from upper-income ones.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]