Korean youth are mama’s kids

By Yoon Ja-young

Staff reporter

It seems that most teenagers and young people here are mama's kids in some sense ― they think it is natural that their parents should pay for their college tuition as well as their wedding.

Statistics Korea released "2010 Youth Statistics," Tuesday, which it releases annually in May, commemorated as the month of family here.

The glimpse into the life and mentality of young people, aged between 15 and 24, shows that they think it is natural to depend economically on their family ― nearly 98 percent said parents should pay for college tuition, and 86.7 percent said the same about wedding expenses.

It also showed that study and employment concerned them most. In the 2002 statistics, meanwhile, study and "appearance" were their two biggest worries. Korean teenagers spend an average of 10 hours and 47 minutes a day studying, while college students spend only 4 hours and 37 minutes.

Three out of four people in elementary school, middle school and high school were receiving some form of private education, costing 242,000 won per month in 2009, 3.9 percent more than the previous year.

One out of 10 surveyed said they had considered committing suicide, and 64 percent said school life was stressful.

Most Korean teenagers use the Internet every day, and were online for 10.8 hours on average a week. More than 85 percent of college students had blogs, as did 29.4 percent of elementary school children. Thirty-nine percent of elementary school children were using online shopping malls, spending 20,000 won a month, while one out of three had logged on to pornographic Web sites.

The statistics also showed that they are open to cohabitation and multicultural marriages. Over half of the respondents said it was okay for unmarried couples to live together, and two out of three said marrying a foreigner was fine. One out of four teenagers said it was okay to have children without getting married.

This is in contrast with what their parents thought. Among those in their 40s, only 36.8 percent approved of cohabitation.

Young Koreans are getting bigger and taller. The average height of a 12-year-old boy stood at 158.1 centimeters in 2008, 13.9 centimeters taller than in 1980. They weighed 50.8 kilograms on average, 15.2 kilograms more than in 1980. A 17-year-old boy measured 173.9 centimeters on average, while the average height of girls the same age was 161.2 centimeters.

한국 청소년들은 마마보이?

한국 청년 대부분은 어떤 면에서 마마보이라 할 수 있을 듯 하다 - 그들은 부모님들이 대학 등록금과 결혼 비용을 대는 것을 당연하게 여긴다.

통계청은 화요일 "2010 청소년 통계"를 발표했다. 통계청은 가정의 달로서 기념되는 매년 5월 이 통계를 발표해왔다.

15세와 24세 사이 청년들의 생활과 사고방식을 살펴본 이 통계에 다르면 그들은 가족에게 경제적으로 의존하는 것을 당연하게 여긴다 - 98퍼센트 가까이가 부모님이 대학 등록금을 대야 한다고 답했으며, 86.7퍼센트는 결혼비용도 그래야 한다고 답했다.

통계에 따르면 그들이 가장 걱정하는 것은 학업과 직업이다. 반면 2002 통계에서는 학업과 "외모"가 가장 큰 고민거리였다. 한국 청소년들은 매일 평균 10시간 47분 공부를 하는 반면, 대학생들은 4시간 37분만을 학업에 투자했다.

초,중,고등학생 네 명 중 세 명은 어떠한 형태의 사교육을 받고 있었으며, 2009년에 242,000원을 사교육에 지출했다. 이는 그 전 해와 비교해 3.9퍼센트 증가한 것이다.

설문에 참가한 열 명 중 한 명이 자살을 생각해본 적이 있다 답했으며, 64퍼센트는 학교생활이 스트레스라고 말했다.

한국 청소년들 대부분은 매일 인터넷을 사용하며, 일주일 평균 10.8시간을 인터넷에 사용한다. 대학생 85퍼센트 이상이 블로그를 갖고 있으며, 초등학생 중 29.4퍼센트도 그러하다. 초등학생 중 39퍼센트는 인터넷 쇼핑몰을 이용하고 있었으며, 한 달에 2만원을 지출했다. 세 명 중 한 명은 음란 사이트에 접속한 경험이 있다고 답했다.