2015–2017 youth suicides in Hong Kong

Youth Suicide trend in Hong Kong (Chinese: 2015–2017年香港學生連續自殺事件) refers to the succession of suicide committed by Hong Kong primary, secondary and post-secondary students from 2015 to 2017. The suicide cases are not connected, but the frequency of suicides aroused public's attention to the mental health and academic pressure of Hong Kong students.

General Background

Statistics

Since the commencement of the 2015 school year, a spate of suicides among students began to take place, over 70 suicide cases were reported from 2015 to 2017. The alarming frequency of youth suicide is very worrying as it reached a record high, raising concerns that students in Hong Kong face too much academic stress. Based on records from the Coroner’s Court,[1] there were 70 suicide incidents of youths aged 15–24 in 2015, among them 23 were full-time students.

Under sensational reports by the media, suicide can be contagious and intensify copycat effect, thus leading to more deaths. The distribution of deaths is shown below:[2]

School Year Primary and Secondary Post-secondary
2015–2016 22 16
2016–2017 17 15
2017–2018 13 12

It is worth to note that the current data on primary and secondary suicide cases also reveal a significant association between gender and mental illness, with male suicide rates outnumbering its female counterparts in Hong Kong. The Final Report published by the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides (Chinese: 防止學生自殺委員會) suggested the reason may be unwillingness amongst men to talk openly with health care professions and treat mental disorders, while females are more likely to seek help.[3]

Causes of Suicide

There are multiple and interlocking causes of suicide suggested in the following.

Education in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the belief of “academic results determines the future” is prevailing. Schools, parents and students become oriented towards attaining good academic results, and this puts great pressure on students to pursue academic excellence.[4] The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) is seen as an “one-off exam”. In a poll conducted by the “New Youth World”, students rated their level of pressure as 7.44 out of 10 under HKDSE.[5] The life planning support is insufficient in Hong Kong, such that students see progression as their only way out, but neglecting their own abilities and interests. Therefore, they may easily feel stressed when they are not performing well academically.

Copycat suicide

Suicide cluster is defined as an emulation of another suicide that the person attempting suicide knows about, either from local knowledge or due to accounts or depictions of the original suicide on Television and in other media.[6] Imitative suicide is common in the under 25 age group.[7] In Hong Kong, it has been suggested that due to the widespread news report of youth suicide, students are driven to imitate such suicides.[8]

Psychological Concerns

In 2015–2016, 24 out of 38 suicide case involved psychological factors.[3] 13 victims displayed suicidal ideation and 17 victims showed feeling of hopelessness. However, current psychological support from schools, teachers, social workers and parents is not enough.[9]

Existing Support

The help and resources available for students divided into three levels: universal help (for students in general), selective help (for vulnerable students) and indicated help (for students with risk of suicide).

Universal help consists of information, workshops and other tools to help prevent student suicide and improve mental health, as well as raise awareness of the topic. It is also possible for schools to apply for up to HKD$150,000 from the Quality Education Fund to finance activities related to student's well-being.

Selective help is aimed at students with heightened risk of suicide. An example of selective help can be screening tools to find at-risk cases in time. For example, The Centre for Suicide Research provide hands-on advise on their web page to teachers, parents and friends who are worried that someone close to them may be at risk of suicide.

Indicated help is aimed at students with a risk of suicide. Post-secondary institutions are advised to have a 24-hotline and easy access to psychiatric and psychological services. Schools do not always live up to this standard. There are multiple independent hotlines, as well as hotlines run by the Social Welfare Department. Examples of suicide hotlines are the Suicide prevention Services, The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong, and Youth Outreach.[3][10]

Response from the Education Bureau

Attitude of the Bureau

In a Legislative Council meeting on 16 March 2016, former legislative council member Wong Yuk-man raised that one of the possible causes of students suicide could be the Hong Kong’s education system which places too much emphasis on competition. He suggested that parents and teachers barely have time to help students cope with emotional distress as most effort are spent on academic results of students. He questioned the Education Bureau regarding whether it will identify the causes in the current education system that can lead to enormous study pressure for students.

In response to the question, former Secretary for Education Eddie Ng answered that suicide is a complex behaviour with no single cause, and that in fact students’ academic pressure has been reduced under the implementation of New Academic Structure (NAS) in 2009. For example, students under the NAS only have to sit for one public examination, and are able to choose elective subjects in accordance with their interests and abilities to develop their potential.[11]

He further raised that suicides could be prevented by better life planning.[12]

On 13 November 2016, the Education Bureau raised a similar viewpoint, restating that evidence based research indicated that the cause of suicide is complicated. Reasons behind each case are rarely the same and it cannot be proved that the education system or a particular academic environment could directly lead to suicide.[13]

Policies and Committees

Healthy School Policy

In February 2010, the Education Bureau circled a memorandum encouraging the implementation of the Healthy School Policy in primary and secondary schools. Each school was encouraged to formulate their own implementation plan.[14] This policy was implemented starting in the school year of 2010–2011. Furthermore, the policy’s aim is divided into four different elements: developing a management and organisation system for health matters, encourage a healthy school environment, promote a healthy lifestyle for students and improve recognition of students in need and creating a system for handling these students.[15] The policy is foremost an anti substance abuse effort but also touches upon issues related to students’ mental health and student suicide.

Prevention of Student Suicide Committee

On 30 March 2016, the Educational Bureau set up the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee in response to the spate of students' suicides in the 2015–16 school year. The committee is tasked with studying student suicide in Hong Kong and to offer preemptive solutions to the problem ofyouth suicide.[16] The committee consists 21 members ranging from teachers, parents, psychiatrists and the president of the student union at the University of Hong Kong.[17] Professor Paul Yip Siu Fai (Chinese: 葉兆輝) is the director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention in addition to being a chairperson in the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee.[18]

In November 2016, the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee released their final report which presents the current understanding of the student suicide problem and possible solutions. The measures suggested in the report are, including but not limited to, enhancement of the support for families, student support in schools, and promoting the acceptance of alternative career paths. In relation to the Report, the Education Bureau has formulated several practicable and follow-up actions to build a multi-layered safety net for students according to four areas, which includes Promotion of Students’ Mental Well-being and Health, Strengthening Support for Schools and Teachers, Reviewing Relevant Domains in the Education System, and Enhancement of Family Life and Parent Education.[19]

In addition, the Education Bureau proceeded with different policies and projects in response to the 2015–2016 student suicides and the following public discontent.[20] Including but not limited to, providing education material to schools to be able to identify students with difficulties and to provide education for students on coping strategies and positive attitudes. In this case, the educational material for schools, parents and students consisted of pamphlets on the topic of ”Enhancing Life Resilience”. A memo was sent out on 24 June 2016 to inform the heads of different schools of this material.[21]

Committee on Home-School Co-operation

The Committee on Home-School Co-operation (Chinese: 家庭與學校合作事宜委員會;abbr.: CHSC), was set up after a recommendation from Education Commission, to encourage cooperation between parents and teachers. Chiefly by encouraging the set-up of Parent-Teacher Association and by organising activities made to improve home-school cooperation. A memorandum was sent out on 10 June 2016 from the Secretary for Education to inform supervisors and heads of schools. To achieve these goals the Committee on Home-School Co-operation has set up three different types of grants that schools can apply for. The first of grant, with a maximum sum of around HKD$5000 is for schools seeking to set up a Parent-Teacher Association. The second type of grant, with a maximum sum of HKD$5000, is for schools seeking to organise an activity with the purpose of encouraging home-school cooperation. Activities can, for example, be aimed at parenting training, assisting parents to support their children, or student health. The third type of grant is for joint Home-School Co-operation Projects.[22][23]

Other initiatives

No-Suicide Contracts

Example of no-suicide contract

No suicide contracts for students have been a long debated in topic in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, they are used by mental health care professionals as a way to prevent suicides. The contract is an agreement that the student will not commit suicide or harm himself in any other way. Furthermore, the contract lists hotlines, contacts, and an emergency number that the student should call in case of suicidal thoughts. However, the No-Suicide contract is not a legal document. In March, 2016 a copy of the Educational Bureaus No-Suicide Contract for students was circulated on the internet.[24][25]

Detecting youths at risk online

The Prevention of Student Suicide Committee has, in 2017, been in talks with Facebook and Google about the possibility of using these platforms as a tool for detecting student at risk of committing suicide. Facebook and Google already have their own suicide detection and prevention systems.[26]

Criticism

  • Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union
    • The HKPTU criticised that the final report lack recurrent input of resources, manpower, and concrete suggestions.
  • The Civil Alliance for Student Suicide (Chinese: 防止學生自殺民間聯席)
    • The Alliance criticised that the Committee of Prevention of Student Suicide was shirking its responsibility and blaming the victims by stating that there is no substantial link between suicide incidents and the education system in the Final Report.
  • Ip Kin-yuen (Legislative Councillor for Education constituency)
    • Ip is disappointed by the Final report: by pointing out there is no direct relationship between the education system and youth suicide, the Education Bureau is in effect evading its responsibility and it missed the chance to review the education system. He further criticised that the current education system puts students under unnecessary pressure, and that the Report failed to address the root problem and he therefore request more resources from the government.[27]
  • Shiu Ka-chun (Social Worker, Legislative Councillor for Social Welfare Constituency, Associate director of the Center for Youth Research and Practice (Chinese: 青年研究實踐中心) at Hong Kong Baptist University)
    • Shiu suggested that there are lots of causes behind youth suicide, including the education system, economy, societal culture and structure, amongst others.[28] He criticised the government for ignoring the suggestion of organising a summit to address the problem and to make concrete anti-suicide policies.[29]
  • Althea Suen Hiu-nam (Chinese: 孫曉嵐) (Former president of the Hong Kong University Students' Union, a social work student, member of the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee)
    • Suen is the only youth member in the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee. She suggested how Hong Kong’s exam-oriented education placed undue pressure on both teacher and students, and reduce time for teachers to take care of students’ mental well-being in the meetings. Her views were however absent in the Final report, stating that there is no substantial direct link between student suicides and the education system. She questioned whether the government is genuine in including young voices and participation on advisory bodies, and accused the pro-establishment forces of the committee for disregarding her views.

Suggestions

In the final report, the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee divided their recommendations into universal, selective and indicated support. Furthermore, the 19 suggestions are divided into areas of improvement, as follows: student support, families, traditional and social media, multiple articulation pathways, and systematic. The 19 suggestions are:[3]

1. Promote mental well-being and health 11. Enhance referral mechanism to mental health services
2. Facilitate students’ school adjustment 12. Provide gatekeeper training for parents
3. Enhance family life and parent education 13. Arrange counselling and support services for needy parents
4. Foster promotional use of social media 14. Implement gate keeping on social media
5. Advocate responsible media reporting 15. Strengthen cyber-based outreaching services
6. Enhance publicity of multiple pathways 16. Continue developing online screening tools and conducting ongoing research
7. Facilitate career exploration 17. Establish school-based multi-disciplinary platforms
8. Review relevant domains in the educational system,

duly support and address the development and diverse needs

of the students and young people

 18. Enhance accessibility of mental health services
9. Conduct gatekeeper training for early identification and intervention 19. Publicise outreach services for needy families.
10. Develop screening tools and guidelines for school to identify at-risk students

In November 2016, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union made the following suggestions: (1) Alleviation of teachers’ pressure e.g. increasing the quota of regular teachers and increase the teacher-student ratio per class; (2) Enhancing support from social workers (e.g. ensuring there is at least one social worker and one counsellor in each school); (3) Enhancing School-based Educational Psychology Service (Chinese: 校本教育心理服務); (4) Reform of education system, e.g. abolish Territory-wide System Assessment.[30]

In 2017, the Civil Alliance for Student Suicide Prevention publicised a survey that indicated public support for capping the number of hours spent studying each day to 7 hours. Lai Pak-yin, the spokesperson from the Civil Alliance for Student Suicide Prevention argues that excessive studying can have a harmful effect on family relationships. Therefore, he suggested that the Educational Bureau should issue guidelines to help decrease the number of hours spent studying each day.[31]

Controversy

Prevention of Student Suicides Page

"The Package on Prevention of Student Suicide (2010)" P.29

In April 2017, the Education Bureau set up the "Prevention of Student Suicides" page. They uploaded different resources and tips about how to identify and manage students with suicidal tendencies.[32] In a Chinese-language document titled "The Package on Prevention of Student Suicide (2010)" on the Bureau's website, one of the examples suggested as a way to communicate with friends who have suicidal tendencies has attracted huge public backlash - “If you die, your boyfriend may be sad for a few days, but he will soon find a new girlfriend and live normally. It is not worth doing such a silly thing for him!”.[33]

Various educators and social workers commented that the controversial example can be very dangerous for people with suicidal thoughts. According to Shiu Ka-chun, the example provided was irritating and may encourage the person at risk to think pessimistically.[34]

Suicide of Choi Yuk-lin's son

On 7 September 2017, the Under-secretary for Education Christina Choi Yuk-lin’s (Chinese: zh:蔡若蓮; born 1966) 25-year-old son, Poon Hong-yan, jumped to his death from the family’s flat on the 41st floor at Sorrento. It was revealed that he suffered from depression due to serious injuries from a triathlon accident. Various officials, such as the Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung,[35] expressed their condolences to Choi and her family.

As Choi Yuk-lin is a member of the Prevention of Student Suicide Committee, some critics linked the incident with student suicide problem, and attacked Choi's failure to consider adolescents' concerns and perspectives before her son's death. Suen Hiu-nam, head of HKU's student union, further criticized officials for only sending their condolences to Choi's son, and ignoring other students who had committed suicide.[36]

On the same day, signs bearing the slogan "Congratulations Choi Yuk-lin's son on going west" appeared on the Education University of Hong Kong Democracy Wall, on top of banners supporting freedom of expression and Hong Kong independence. The University later issued a statement condemning the signs and apologising for any hurt they may have caused.[37]

References

  1. ↑ "2016年香港整體自殺率下跌　惟青少年自殺率升 (16:50) - 20170908 - 港聞". 即時新聞 instant news (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  2. ↑ "【中一生墮樓】9月開學至今多宗學生自殺或企圖自殺案件". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides (2016).Final Report November 2016
  4. ↑ Chan Hau-nung (27th Feb, 2017) 從學生自殺說起：「學業決定論」與「社會整合論」
  5. ↑ HK01 (29th March, 2017) DSE考核心科目下周開考 調查：考生壓力爆標多源自社會
  6. ↑ Halgin, Richard P.; Susan Whitbourne (January 2006). Abnormal Psychology with MindMap II CD-ROM and PowerWeb. McGraw-Hill. p. 62. ISBN 0-07-322872-9.
  7. ↑ Romeo Vitelill (August, 2012). When Suicides Come in Clusters. Psychology Today..
  8. ↑ Hong Kong Commercial Daily (13th March, 2013). 專家：自殺有模仿效應.
  9. ↑ HK01 (14th Dec, 2016).誰來珍惜學童生命？ 評《防止學生自殺委員會最終報告》
  10. ↑ "Helpline and Community Resources". www.edb.gov.hk. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  11. ↑ "LC Urgent Q2: Alleviating the study pressure on students". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  12. ↑ "Education Sec. Eddie Ng says student suicide trend linked to poor life planning; report due at end of Oct | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2016-10-15. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  13. ↑ "政策正面睇". www.edb.gov.hk (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  14. ↑ berenicelau (2014-08-28). "The School Safety Team | Healthy School Policy (HSP)" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  15. ↑ Education Bureau. (Aug, 2015). Content
  16. ↑ Legislative Council Panel on Education. (Nov, 2016). Final Report of the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides
  17. ↑ SCMP (16th April, 2016). To prevent student suicides, all of Hong Kong has to fight the battle – each and every day
  18. ↑ HKSAR Press Releases. (7th Nov, 2016). Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides submits final report to SED.
  19. ↑ Legislative Council Panel on Education (7th January, 2017). Follow-up Progress of the Final Report of the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides.
  20. ↑ Ejinsight. (23rd Oct, 2017). Groups hold barefoot rally to highlight student suicide problem
  21. ↑ Secretary for Education. (24th June, 2016). Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 91/2016 Information Kit and Leaflets on “Enhancing Life Resilience”.
  22. ↑ Committee on Home-School Co-operation. Introduction
  23. ↑ Secretary for Education. (10th June, 2016). Home-School Co-operation Grants.
  24. ↑ "Psychologists support Education Bureau's 'no suicide' student contracts | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  25. ↑ "University student takes her own life in third student suicide in four days | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  26. ↑ "Google, Facebook in talks to help Hong Kong avert youth suicide". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  27. ↑ HK01 (7th Nov, 2016).委員會提19項建議　吳克儉：學生自殺與教育系統無直接關係
  28. ↑ Ejinsight. (2nd, Feb, 2017). 尊重死亡才能尊重生命：關於防止學童自殺報告.
  29. ↑ Ming Pao. (13th Oct, 2017). 邵家臻﹕民間早促召開關注自殺峰會 林鄭﹕不太記得
  30. ↑ HKPTU. (8th Nov, 2016). 教協會評《防止學生自殺委員會最終報告》不投入資源　不改善人手　不檢討制度 空談防止學童自殺
  31. ↑ "'Cap hours Hong Kong pupils study to prevent teen suicide'". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  32. ↑ "Prevention of Student Suicides". www.edb.gov.hk. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  33. ↑ 教育局 (October 2010). "預防學生自殺資源套" (PDF): 29.
  34. ↑ "Government faces flak over approach to student suicides". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  35. ↑ "Tragic fall leaves son of education under secretary dead | Hong Kong | China Daily". www.chinadailyhk.com. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  36. ↑ "因是副局個仔先問候？港大學生會前會長轟偽善". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  37. ↑ "Education Bureau slams signs 'congratulating' education deputy's son following death | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
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