1 in 6 Gyeongnam teenagers are “depressed”… The main concerns are career and grades.

In a survey targeting youth in Gyeongnam, one out of six respondents evaluated their state of mind as depressed over the past year.

According to the Gyeongnam branch of the National Teachers and Education Workers Union on the 4th, these results were obtained from an online lifestyle survey conducted on 1,071 teenagers in the province from the 23rd to the 31st of last month ahead of Student Independence Movement Day (November 3rd).

475 middle school students, 588 high school students, and 8 out-of-school youth participated in the survey.

When asked how they felt over the past year, 14.2% responded that they were "depressed," and 2.3% responded that they were "very depressed," accounting for 16.5% of the total.

The proportion of high school students who responded that they were depressed was 19.7%, which was higher than that of middle school students (11.8%).

The things they are most worried about these days (maximum of 3 multiple responses) were career and higher education (60.8%), followed by grades (52.7%), friends (30.4%), and family (12.0%). The response that they had no worries was 22.8%.

Among respondents who cited family as a concern, 38.3% responded that they were depressed.

28.0% of respondents said that when they have a problem, they ‘solve it on their own’. Only 0.9% selected school teachers as a discussion partner.

Among middle and high school student respondents, 65.0% took an academy, tutoring, or online lecture for an average of 2 hours or more a day.

However, 48.5% of respondents said they rarely exercise, and 70.7% said they rarely read.

The Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union emphasized, “The mental health of youth must be the top priority in education policy,” and “We must increase the number of professional counselors and create conditions for teachers to stay with students.”

He added, "Rather than a policy focused on improving grades and selection, we must move toward a policy that eases competition in entrance exams. We must ensure that students actually participate in the enactment and revision of student life regulations, and we must guarantee rest and leisure for youth."