Suicide Is 2nd Most Cause of S. Korean Teenage Deaths

Suicide Is 2nd Most Cause of S. Korean Teenage Deaths

A very sad statistic. This brief report indicates that suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death of teenagers in 2006.

Unfortunately, this is not too surprising to me. The teenage years are a time of change and challenges, yet teenagers often have not yet developed coping mechanisms to deal with these issues.

Here are some questions to get us started:
1) The article indicates that trouble at school could be a "cause". What kinds of trouble do you think they are referring to? Do you have any suggestions for preventing these troubles from leading to suicide?

2) The article also indicates that only 6% had symptoms of depression. I find that difficult to believe. Could it be that the teenagers peers and/or adults in their lives didn't know what to look for? Do you?

3) Do Korean teachers undergo training on the detection of depression and is there a procedure in place to help depressed students? If not, do you think that this should be part of their responsibilities?

4) Are there any design changes that could be made to apartments to prevent these deadly falls?