Hong Kong education experts weigh options to tackle student suicide problem · Global Voices

The leading cause of suicide is untreated depression. Depression is treatable and suicide is preventable. You can get help from confidential helplines for suicidal people and people in emotional crisis. Visit Befrienders.org to find a suicide prevention hotline in your country.

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on mental health, especially for vulnerable young people. In Hong Kong, however, the situation appears particularly dire suicide rates among young people has risen sharply in recent years 2.8 percent of students considering suicide in the 2022-2023 academic year – one of the highest rates in the world.

While education experts have weighed in on the issues, a life education trainer, Ricky Tse, said made the following controversial comment during a press conference.

甚麼是責任感、甚麼是尊重，所以所有價值觀去到最後就是文化核心，為對方設想多些，所以學生生命教育，如果你會多想社會責任、家長期望、你走後家人會怎樣，其他人會怎樣，你會多設想這個精神便不會做傻事

All values ​​essentially come down to consideration for others. Then you will know what etiquette, wisdom, responsibility and respect are. Values ​​essentially form a cultural core, namely taking others into account. Therefore, life education for students requires them to think more about social responsibility and parental expectations. What would happen to your family and others if you were gone? With a mind like that, you don’t do anything stupid.

Tse is the head of the Life Education Center of Hong Kong’s Nang Yan College of Higher Education. “Life education” is an educational pedagogy that prioritizes the spiritual development of students in education. His comments that the rise in suicides was due to a value deficit among young people caused a backlash within the community, as many said the views were insensitive and feared such views could lead to more student deaths.

A Facebook-based discussion group on student suicide has been released a statement he condemns Tse for his callous comments and ignoring the plight of the students.

…撒瑪利亞防止自殺會曾指出「學童或青年的壓力大多來自父母期望過高」 …

…the Samaritan Befrienders (a local suicide prevention group) has pointed out that ‘most of the pressure on students or young people comes from the high expectations of their parents’… Now Mr Tse again suggested that students should think more about their parents’ expectations. His speech downplays the pressures students face.

有自殺念頭的人往往正面臨著極大的痛苦，故不應簡單地把自殺描繪為一個愚稨的行為。不論是否認同他們的行為，亦應本聯席促請各界在形容自殺事件時，避免使用「傻事」、「輕生」等字眼…

Mr Tse called suicide attempts ‘doing something stupid’… Suicidal people often suffer a lot of pain, and their act should not be simply portrayed as stupid. Their experiences and feelings should be respected and acknowledged, regardless of the good or bad aspects of their behavior. We urge all sectors not to use words such as ‘stupidity’ and ‘recklessness’ when describing suicide incidents…

Suicide among students has become a serious social problem in recent years. Hong Kong’s most recent government public statistics indicate that student suicide deaths have nearly tripled in a decade, reaching a record high of 23 cases in 2023. That same year, 6.9 percent of students aged 6 to 17 exhibited suicidal behavior and 24.4 percent suffered from mental health problems. as shown by a study conducted by the government.

Data from public school student counseling cases indicated that large numbers of students suffer from mental health problems (37 percent), followed by family problems (20 percent) and school-related problems (20 percent). Major mental health disorders found in schools include attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorder; anxiety disorder; and depressive disorder.

The Education Bureau recognizes the problem and has allocated more resources to social workers and educational psychologists in schools, parent education and school emergency protocols for student mental health support.

Education experts also stepped in to comment on the issue.

Releasing a survey that found 15 percent of students had suicidal thoughts and 70 percent of students felt desperate or confused about their lives during a press conference, Tse said urged for a better approach to life education during a press conference.

He sees Chinese culture as a spiritual touchstone that can help students reduce stress and pressure to self-harm. He argued that education should be based on traditional Chinese culture and values:

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‘Life education’ should be integrated with the values ​​education and moral education of traditional Chinese culture, because the core of Chinese culture is to care for others with love and empathy, and diversity, interaction and tolerance have always been emphasized.

Originating from Australia in 1979the concept of “life education” was initially introduced by a Christian pastor who addressed juvenile delinquency, such as drug abuse, with a spiritual approach. The pedagogy is done increasingly considered an effective intervention to reduce unnatural deaths, especially suicides, among Chinese societies in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, although each has taken a different pedagogical approach.

In Hong Kong, the Life Education Curriculum in Public Schools was established by some twenty Christian schools in 1999 to address issues related to school violence and youth gang problems. Ten years later, in 2010, the Education Bureau began allocating budgets to schools to adopt the curriculum.

Since 2021, life education has been embedded in the city’s primary schools Values ​​education curriculumtogether with national education, moral education, etc. The objectives of the Curriculum are to deepen students’ understanding of proper values ​​and Chinese virtues, promote their recognition of these values ​​and cultivate empathy, positive attitude to life and affection for the world. country and Hong Kong, and finally, to help them exhibit correct and good behavior. There are 12 traits listed as correct values ​​and Chinese virtues, including perseverance, respect for others, responsibility, national identity, dedication, integrity, benevolence, obedience to law, empathy, dedication, unity and filial piety.

The initial Christian approach to life education, which emphasizes the individual pursuit of life’s meaning, has slowly given way to the Chinese cultural and nationalist approach, which emphasizes establishing one’s sense of self through familial/communal and national values.In recent years, some schools asked their students to show filial piety towards their parents by kneeling to offer a cup of tea (see top image), and some asked their students to speeches during the ritual of raising the national flag about their duty to society and their nation.

Tse’s approach to life education is in line with the Value Education Curriculum guidelines, but his comments resulted in a huge backlash on social media, and he had to apologize for his choice of words two days later.

The issue at hand is not just about stigmatizing suicide as a stupid act, but also about suggesting that Chinese culture and values ​​can solve the student suicide problem. pointed out by the prominent writer Fung Hei-kin, who argued that mainstream Confucian culture, which advocates “self-sacrifice” (usually to the country), often worsens mental health and leads to suicide:

中華文化包羅萬有，諸子百家持論已各有不同，能跟「預防自殺」拉上關係的價值觀，我只More information: Image:望的偉人，謝教授又是否該譴責他不顧社會責任、不為他人着想呢？

Chinese culture encompasses many schools of thought. I can only think of Zhuang Zi, who liked to talk about preserving health and preserving nature as a value that can be associated with preventing suicide. As for traditional Chinese culture, it rarely rejects suicide, but often praises those who commit suicide. For example, Qu Yuanhis suicide was honored with a holiday (Dragon Boat Festival), is precisely a great man who is supported by those who embraced traditional Chinese values. Should Prof. Tzu condemn him for ignoring his social responsibility and not thinking about others?

What really angers people is the ideological approach, which suppresses individual needs in favor of cultural and national collectivism in addressing matters of life and death.