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Curbing student suicide 1n So

» Government approval of suicide-prevention mobile app meets controversy

Patrick Vaillancourt
Senior Columnist

Ro approval of a mobile

pplication in South Korea
meant to be used asa student
suicide-prevention tool has
sparked some concerns ina
country known as much for its
Internet connectivity as for its
high rates of suicide.

The Korean government
developed the application and
has received Cabinet-level
approval to roll it out in the
coming weeks. While mobile
phones will not be sold pre-
loaded with the technology, the
government hopes that parents
will install the application on
their children’s mobile devices.

The app, which detects
certain key words and phrases
from popular social media
networks such as Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram,
will also monitor words on
popular Korean-made mobile
applications, such as KakaoTalk
and the Naver search engine
and social properties.

Suicide has been a major
public health crisis in South
Korea for several decades and
this small peninsular nation
consistently ranks as the worst
in the 34-member Organization
for Economic Co-Operation
and Development (OECD)
suicide indices year after year.
In the OECD’s 2014 analysis,
reports show South Korea

: having 33.3 suicides per 100,000
; people, more than double the

: OECD average (12.4) and three
; times that of Canada’s reported
: suicide rate (11.1). The report

: also paints a darker picture for

: Korea, stating that “due to the
stigma associated with the act,”
; many suicides are not reported.

Student suicide is a

significant subset of the larger

: problem, and seemingly more

: tragic because of the age of

: those taking their own lives.

: According to Korea’s Education
: Ministry, 878 high school

: students have taken their own

: lives between 2009 and 2014.

: Reports from the ministry also

: reveal that over half of Koreans
aged 14 to 19 have reported

: having suicidal ideations.

Rollout is expected to

: occur very quickly, giving the

: government time to test and
correct bugs as well as make

: South Koreans aware of the

: app before November’s hyper-
: competitive national college

; examinations take place.

Understanding the

pressures faced by Korean

: youth requires some historical
: context. South Korea was born
; as a poor country and was

; subsequently devastated by

; a three-year war with North

: Korea. Dictatorships in South
: Korea entrenched in the minds
: of Koreans the importance

: of working hard to build the

: nation up economically, which

: led to a miraculous economic

: turnaround that now sees

: South Koreans living in a

: wealthy and developed society.
: The militaristic work style,

: however, has never subsided

: and Koreans are overworked

: and underpaid, oftentimes to

: the point of depression. Ina

: country that has gone from the
: deep depths of poverty to the

: powerhouse it is today, Koreans
: demand excellence while failure
: is seen as disgraceful.

High school students are

: pushed by parents to do well

: academically, in particular

: on the national college

: examinations. Scoring high

: on the examinations allows a

: student to enter one of Korea’s
: most prestigious universities

: and have almost endless job

: prospects upon graduation.

: This pressure is what drives

: the Korean education

: industry, as students often go

: to several private academies

: after their regular studies for

: supplementary lessons in

: English, math, music, and

: college examination prep. A

: typical high school student

: will go to class at 7 a.m. and

: return home only shortly before
: midnight. In 2013, Korean

; parents spent the equivalent of
: $17.5-billion Canadian on extra
: education for their children.

Saving face is also a huge

part of South Korean custom,
: and some students who have

: underachieved academically

: have taken their own lives

: rather than facing their families
: and an uncertain future
professionally.

The mobile application will

: send parents notifications if

: and when their children send
: messages or post anything to
: social media networks which
may suggest low or depressed
: moods, as well as suicidal

: tendencies. The government
: is hailing it as the first of

: its kind, but the education
establishment is critical.

The Korean Federation of

Teachers’ Association said that
; the mobile app isa “stop-gap”

:; measure and that more needs

: to be done to battle the root

: causes of student depression,

: adding that there are “various

: factors which lead to the suicide :
: of students.”

A more liberal union,

the Korean Teachers and

: Education Workers Union,

: who are ideologically

: opposed to the government

: of President Park Geun-hye,

: issued a statement saying

: that the mobile app raises

: privacy issues that have not

: been tested by the Korean

; judicial system. “Any direct

: monitoring of social networks
: and messaging services raises
: possible cause for concern,”

: read the statement.

The union is calling fora

: more comprehensive approach

uth Korea

theotherpress.ca

 

Image from Thinkstock

: to dealing with student

: mental health, including a full
: review of the national college

: examination process.

Christina Han, a mother of

: two with a daughter preparing
: for the college entrance exams
: later this year, told the Other

: Press that any concerns about
: privacy are far outweighed by

: a parent’s obligation to keep

: their children safe from self-

: harm.

“Privacy isa North

: American idea. We have a

: serious problem in my country
: when it comes to suicide. It isa
: mark of national shame,” said

: Han via phone from her home
: in Seoul. “If being notified

: of some troubling messages

: can allow for an intervention

: for someone who is facing a

mental crisis, then it should be

: embraced.”

Han also notes that most

Korean teenagers are reluctant
: to seek professional help, often
: turning to friends for guidance.

“An app that will alert me

to my daughter’s situation if

: she were to send an alarming
message to a friend will give me
: a better sense of what is really
going on in my daughter’s life.”

Over 600,000 students are

expected to write the national
: college entrance examinations
: on November 12, 2015, for only
: a few hundred spots in the

: country’s elite post-secondary
: institutions.