MCLC: cutthroat school system leads to suicides

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: cutthroat school system leads to suicides
***********************************************************

Source: China Real Time blog, WSJ (5/15/14):
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/05/15/chinas-cutthroat-school-syste
m-leads-to-teen-suicides/

China’s Cutthroat School System Leads to Teen Suicides
By Chao Deng

China’s state media this week published
<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-05/14/content_17505291.htm>
research that places much of the blame for teen suicide—usually a taboo
subject—on the country’s cutthroat test-oriented education system.

Suicide has been an increasing problem in China, with state media calling
it 
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/08/c_131117301.htm>
the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 34. The
government has said
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/08/c_131117301.htm>
in the past that roughly a quarter of a million people commit suicide
every year in China, with particularly high rates in rural areas, although
it doesn’t break out specific numbers for teens.

In a new blue book 
<http://books.ssap.com.cn/mallStore/Store_BookContent.aspx?f_Id=C74028FCD54
FC7A6C7EF026E6F712DBD> published by Chinese nonprofit organization 21st
Century Education Research Institute, researchers closely examined 79
elementary and middle school suicide cases from 2013 and found that almost
all—92%—occurred after a teen had endured stress associated with school,
in some cases an argument with a teacher, according to China Daily
<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-02/19/content_16234503.htm>. Some
63% occurred in the latter half of the school year, when students usually
experience more stress due to high school and college entrance exams.

The study’s examples included a middle school student from Inner Mongolia
who jumped off a building after learning that his test scores had dropped;
a 13-year-old boy from Jiangsu province who hanged himself after failing
to finish his homework; and a girl from Sichuan province who cut her
wrists and took poison upon learning the results of her college-entrance
exam.

China’s education system is notorious for its focus on rote memorization
and intense competition. Well-off families often enroll their kids in
tutoring programs to try to give them an edge against their peers.
Competition for getting into good schools, from elementary to college
levels, is fierce.

The biggest culprit of stress for China’s youth—the gaokao, or
college-entrance exam—has long been the subject of critique. For many
students, doing well on this exam is considered a ticket to a better
future, as colleges judge applicants based solely on their scores. Chinese
students get a single shot at the test, which is administered once a year.
Score results can be a big fanfare for entire families, who pin their
hopes on what are for many their only son or daughter.

Despite the obvious need for hotlines and other psychological help to
prevent suicides, the country provides few outlets for troubled youth. Wan
Yanjie, an organizer at the Life Education & Crisis Intervention Centre,
the first nonprofit to launch a 24-hour suicide hotline in Shanghai, says
the number of calls the center receives from teenagers is still low, in
part because of a lack of marketing for such intervention services at
schools. Most of the calls the center fields now have to do with burdens
from work and marriage, she said.

The China Daily report didn’t offer any suggestions to alleviate the
situation for youth, but it quoted Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the
National Institute of Education Sciences, as saying that students,
teachers and parents need to communicate more.

But while “more parents and teachers are understanding what their children
feel” and “more schools have an in-house psychologist, the traditional
education system forces [parents and teachers] to emphasize performance
and discipline, with a focus on children’s future, instead of looking from
the children’s perspective,” Ms. Wan said.

– Chao Deng. Follow her on Twitter @chao_deng
<http://twitter.com/chao_deng>