hankyoreh

By Lee Soo-bum, senior staff writer

Attending after-school academies is the biggest source of stress for South Korea’s fifth and sixth graders, a recent survey finds.

The academies were also found to be where students spent the most time after school.

The ChamGyoYook Research Institute, affiliated with the Korean Teachers’ and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), marked Children’s Day on May 5 by announcing findings from a survey of “children’s culture and lifestyle,” with responses tallied from 1,955 fifth and sixth graders across the country on Mar. 13-28.

After-school academies were the major source of stress for the elementary school students, with 52.1% citing them as stressful on the survey, which allowed multiple responses. Next in line were academic achievement (48.4%), ostracism (19.8%), and personal appearance (15.8%).

Just 3.5% of the young respondents said they enjoyed attending the academies.

Academies were also named by 42.8% of students as the place where they spent the most time after school, with 60% saying they attended for more than two hours a day. The next responses were studying/homework (29.1%), using smartphones (27.1%), and watching television (24.2%).

Meanwhile, five of every ten students reported talking to family members for less than 30 minutes a day. As many as half said they were unable to eat breakfast with parents during the week.

Students gave “study harder” as the most commonly heard message from parents (30.2%), followed by “do your homework” (9.2%). The most desired messages were compliments such as “great job” (25.5%) and “you‘re doing well at school” (7.5%).

“This just shows once again how tough private education in English and math makes things for young people in this competition-centered society,” said KTU spokesman Ha Byung-soo.

“We urgently need to reform our university entrance exam system and support family and local community caretaking so that children can play well, form relationships with friends, and have a balanced education,” Ha added.

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