Suicide biggest killer among Korean teenagers

By Kim Se-jeong

Suicide is the main cause of death among teenagers, according to a government survey released Tuesday.

A total of 7.4 out of 100,000 young people between the ages of 13 and 24 have died this way, while almost eight percent answered that they have thought about committing suicide in last year. This is a decrease of 3.3 percent from 2012, with respondents saying that academic, economic and career-related stress were the main reasons for their depression.

The next biggest cause of death in this age group was traffic accidents and diseases. The results were included in a comprehensive report on Korean teenagers, jointly released by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Also revealed in the study was that more than half of middle and high school students use their smartphones to watch sexually explicit content.

The survey showed that smartphones are the No. 1 means for teenagers to view adult-related content. Of the 19,266 students surveyed, 52.6 percent said they watch pornographic videos and photos through smartphones, followed by Cable TV with 42.7 percent and adult magazines with 34.1 percent.

Compared to 2012, the number of students using smartphones and cable TV for such content almost doubled.

Students from interracial families

The report also showed the number of elementary, middle and high school students from interracial families reached 67,806 as of the end of last year, up 21.6 percent from 2013 when the number was 55,780.

Seventy percent of these children are 13 years old or younger. The increase is notable, especially since the number of children overall is dropping, while the number of interracial children in Korea is expected to grow.

According to the report, 56.8 percent of teenagers said a relationship between a man and a woman was possible without being legally married. Almost 75 percent of them said they would marry foreigners, and 26.4 percent said it is okay to have babies without being married.

The report showed the average height for sixth-grade male students was 151.4 centimeters last year, and 151.8 centimeters for female students in the same age group. The average height grew by 2.3 centimeters for males and 1.5 centimeters for females over the past decade.

The average weight was 46.8 kilograms for males and 45.1 kilograms for females. These figures also increased from 44.4 kilograms and 43.2 kilograms, respectively, from 10 years ago.

9.2 percent smoke

Among middle and high school respondents, 9.2 percent answered that they smoked more than once and 16.7 percent said they drank alcohol, a decrease from 13.3 percent and 27.8 percent, respectively, from 2007. Experts say the government’s anti-smoking initiatives have contributed to the decrease.