ID :
25772
Tue, 10/21/2008 - 16:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/25772
The shortlink copeid
Teachers to receive state-run suicide prevention training
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Elementary and secondary school teachers will receive state-administered training to address students' mental health and help prevent suicides, following a spate of celebrity suicides that stoked fears of copycat deaths, the Education Ministry said Tuesday.
Suicide is the second biggest cause of death among teenagers after traffic
accidents in Korea. The number of elementary and secondary school students taking
their own lives surged to 142 last year from 100 in 2003, according to government
data.
Fears of a suicide contagion resurfaced in recent weeks after four celebrities
took their own lives over a one month period in what became a highly publicized
tragedy. The death of top actress Choi Jin-sil in particular triggered a number
of similar deaths across the country.
It is the first time the ministry will administer the suicide prevention program,
which has previously been offered sporadically by local offices as part of a
mandatory teacher training program but had failed to draw wider interest.
"The two-hour program will focus on how schools should guide and cope with
students who are in crises and show symptoms of committing suicide," a ministry
official said.
Experts note Korean teenagers are particularly vulnerable to suicide, given the
highly competitive education system that emphasizes entrance into Seoul's top
universities as their primary goal. Students are, as a result, forced to forgo
their natural process of self discovery, they say.
Additionally, Korean parents' overprotectiveness, which stems in part from the
fact that many teens are only-children in an era of declining birth rates, may in
fact hinder their children's mental development.
Lee Kwang-ja, who teaches nursing at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul and is vice
president of the Korea Association for Suicide Prevention, describes the path
Korean children are forced to take as "pathological."
"Teenagers are at a stage in life where they find out who they are and what they
should do, but they can't do that, as the only thing they are expected to do is
study," said Lee, who will be one of the lecturers at Tuesday's program.
"They put off such a quest until university, but it's too late as their majors
would have already been decided," she said.
Student suicide tends to be impulsive, whereas adult suicides tend to be more
premeditated, Lee said. Common methods include jumping off a building or into a
river, which have high fatality rates, she noted.
Officials said the student suicide prevention program will first be provided for
200 teachers nationwide at Hanyang University in Seoul, who will then train
others in their regions. The program will be offered regularly, officials said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Suicide is the second biggest cause of death among teenagers after traffic
accidents in Korea. The number of elementary and secondary school students taking
their own lives surged to 142 last year from 100 in 2003, according to government
data.
Fears of a suicide contagion resurfaced in recent weeks after four celebrities
took their own lives over a one month period in what became a highly publicized
tragedy. The death of top actress Choi Jin-sil in particular triggered a number
of similar deaths across the country.
It is the first time the ministry will administer the suicide prevention program,
which has previously been offered sporadically by local offices as part of a
mandatory teacher training program but had failed to draw wider interest.
"The two-hour program will focus on how schools should guide and cope with
students who are in crises and show symptoms of committing suicide," a ministry
official said.
Experts note Korean teenagers are particularly vulnerable to suicide, given the
highly competitive education system that emphasizes entrance into Seoul's top
universities as their primary goal. Students are, as a result, forced to forgo
their natural process of self discovery, they say.
Additionally, Korean parents' overprotectiveness, which stems in part from the
fact that many teens are only-children in an era of declining birth rates, may in
fact hinder their children's mental development.
Lee Kwang-ja, who teaches nursing at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul and is vice
president of the Korea Association for Suicide Prevention, describes the path
Korean children are forced to take as "pathological."
"Teenagers are at a stage in life where they find out who they are and what they
should do, but they can't do that, as the only thing they are expected to do is
study," said Lee, who will be one of the lecturers at Tuesday's program.
"They put off such a quest until university, but it's too late as their majors
would have already been decided," she said.
Student suicide tends to be impulsive, whereas adult suicides tend to be more
premeditated, Lee said. Common methods include jumping off a building or into a
river, which have high fatality rates, she noted.
Officials said the student suicide prevention program will first be provided for
200 teachers nationwide at Hanyang University in Seoul, who will then train
others in their regions. The program will be offered regularly, officials said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
