One in four children and adolescents had thoughts of self-harm, academic pressure largest factor: Survey

One in four children and adolescents in Korea had thoughts of wanting to die in the past year, according to a survey released Wednesday by the National Youth Policy Institute.

The survey covered 8,764 students nationwide from fourth grade in elementary school through the final year of high school. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they had experienced suicidal ideation in the past year. The leading reason was academic pressure, cited by 37.9 percent of those who reported such thoughts, followed by anxiety about the future and career prospects at 20 percent and family conflict at 18.5 percent.

There was a notable gender gap: 34.3 percent of girls reported suicidal ideation, compared to 20.1 percent of boys — roughly 1.7 times higher.

On overall well-being, 15.1 percent of respondents said they were not currently happy. Academic problems were again the top reason at 46.9 percent, followed by anxiety about the future at 15.4 percent and difficulties in peer relationships at 10.9 percent.

One in 10 students — 9.9 percent — said they had actually attempted self-harm. Of those, 4.6 percent said they had tried once, 4.3 percent said they do so occasionally and 1 percent said they do so frequently.

Social isolation also emerged as a significant concern. Some 4.1 percent of respondents said they always feel lonely, 8.9 percent said they have no one to talk to when they have problems and 9 percent said they have no one to turn to in a crisis. Among children raised by grandparents, that last figure rose to 24.6 percent — about three times the average.

A total of 28.5 percent of respondents said they had considered dropping out of school, with many citing feelings of lethargy and academic burnout. The share rose with each school level: 21.8 percent of elementary students, 28.6 percent of middle schoolers and 35.1 percent of high schoolers had considered quitting. The most common reasons were not wanting to study, cited by 26.4 percent, and feeling too apathetic to do anything at all, cited by 25.9 percent. Among elementary students, not wanting to study was the top answer. Apathy ranked first among middle and high schoolers.

If you or someone you know is feeling emotionally distressed or struggling with thoughts of suicide, LifeLine Korea can be contacted at 1588-9191 or the Crisis Counseling Center at 1577-0199. The Seoul Global Center offers English-language counseling. Contact 02-2075-4180 (+1) to arrange a session. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM NAM-YOUNG [[email protected]]