<Anchor>
The number of teenagers who make
extreme choices is increasing, so we do psychological tests at school every year. However, a recent survey by education authorities found that more than 70 percent of the students who died were "normal" on the test.

Let's take a look at the reporter's exclusive report.

<Reporter>

This is an official letter sent by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to more than 2,000 elementary, middle and high schools last month.

"In a recent survey, more than 70 percent of students who committed suicide were found to be 'normal' on the emotional and behavioral trait test." It is revealed.

In the meantime, I will give teachers a separate check-up questionnaire, so I ask them to observe the students more closely.

In 2021, there were 198 student suicides nationwide, of which Gyeonggi Province had the highest number of suicides with 57.

Gyeonggi Province, which was considering countermeasures, conducted a full survey of about 50 students who died last year, and more than 70% of them were normal in the characteristic test.

[Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education: When making a plan to support students in crisis, we need to analyze what aspects we should take, so I took a look at last year's data.]

The Emotional and Behavioral Trait Test is an annual nationwide test conducted by the Ministry of Education to identify people at high risk of suicide and take preventive measures.

I mean, a lot of the students who committed suicide didn't even get identified.

Experts say there are limitations to the current method, in which students answer test questions on their own and parents are notified of the results.

[Jong-Woo Baek, Professor of Mental Health Medicine, Kyung Hee University: The more you despair, the more you don't want to show (suicidal thoughts), the more you can't know these things unless you check them yourself....]

It is also pointed out that we need to look at whether the test questions do not properly reflect the reality of adolescents.

[Kwon Il-nam / Myongji University Youth Guidance Professor: The behavioral characteristics of adolescents have changed a lot compared to when the Emotional Behavior Test was created, so I think it is necessary to improve those parts.]

(Video reporter: Kim Kyun-jong, Lee Sang-hak, Video editing: Kim Yoon-sung)


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< anchor>
reporter Lim Tae-woo, who covered
this issue, is here.

Q. Is 'suicide prevention' effective?

[Reporter Lim Tae-woo: In fact, about 20,000 people are diagnosed as at risk every year through this test and receive psychological counseling, so it is clearly a test that has results and needs. Instead, we need to supplement it. The recent teenage suicide rate is 2.7 per 100,000 people, the highest ever. The number of suicide students counted by the Ministry of Education every year has also soared from less than 150 three years ago to nearly 200 since last year, when face-to-face classes began to increase. In this situation, it is urgent to improve and supplement preventive testing to increase its effectiveness.]

Q. What are the supplements that experts say?

[Reporter Lim Tae-woo: Currently, it is only once a year, but it is necessary to increase it to two or three times to tighten the intervals, or to improve the inspection items to meet the reality of adolescents who are highly dependent on the media and cyberbullying is rapidly increasing. There were also many expert opinions that improvement was needed in the process of informing parents of their children's test results and solving the problem. Parents who are notified of a negative result often scold their children, which often backfires, but there were many suggestions that if parents and children actively ensured the intervention of a counseling agency, more students would be able to receive help in moments of crisis.]

(Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung)

※ If you have problems that are difficult to talk about, such as depression, or if you have family members or acquaintances around you who are experiencing such difficulties, you can receive expert counseling 24 hours a day at the Suicide Prevention Hotline 1393, Mental Health Helpline 1577-0199, Hope Hotline 129, Lifeline ☎ ☎ ☎☎ 1588-9191, Youth Phone ☎ 1388, Youth Mobile Counseling 'Dog to Listen to Everything' application, Kakao Talk, etc.