'Korean children unhappiest among OECD countries'

[elprofesor]

South Korea ranked the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of happiness felt by elementary, middle and high school students, a survey showed Wednesday.

The Institute for Social Development Studies of Yonsei University and the Korea Pang Jung-hwan Foundation polled 6,410 students from fourth to 12th grade from March to April this year and compared the results with the 2006 OECD data on 22 other member countries.

In the latest survey, the subjective happiness index of the South Korean students surveyed was 65.98 points, far below the OECD's 2006 average of 100 and Spain's 113.6, which topped the list. South Korea was also some 20 points behind the next closest country, Hungary, which stood at 22nd with 86.7 points in the 2006 poll.

South Korean children were found to be the most unhappiest in the two previous annual surveys by the same research institute with 64.3 points in 2009 and 65.1 in 2010.

On the other hand, South Korea ranked higher in other education-related sectors, particularly with the highest scores in the education category with 127.8 points and in the behavior and lifestyle section with 129.3.

The subjective happiness index is based on results obtained from survey questions on the subjective level of satisfaction in six categories, including self-rated health, sense of belonging, and satisfaction of life and school life. (Yonhap)

you are not here to entertain? Imagine you teaching these students and never being interested in anything you teach.  hmm.....

[lizard]

We played Apples to Apples yesterday in my free talking class and the green card word was "unhappy" and someone played "high school" and won that round.

[heyitslep]

Source seems to be the Korean Times, but their website keeps flagging Google Chrome for malware so I can't confirm.

And regarding the article, I totally understand. These kids are in school maybe 14 hours a day easily. But, those 14 hours keep us here employed.

[dromulagam]

I would be unhappy too what with this forehead flicking, yelling and hair pulling by teachers... and the occasional whack with a stick.  It probably doesn't help that they have to learn from horrible English textbooks. 

I don't know, my kids actually seem pretty happy in spite of all this. 

I'm not sure that you can measure happiness in that way.  I would agree with an article called "Korean children are overworked and miss out on how fun being a kid is," but that's a long headline.


(Also there are so many kinds of happiness--the immediate happiness, the 'daily grind' type of routine, stable happiness, and the kind of happiness you get from reflecting upon your life and your experiences.  There is self-worth, accomplishment, etc., you get the idea.  I think Korea seems to focus on the latter happiness and denies immediate gratification.  I say this because, from what I have observed, their school/personal lives are not always immediately gratifying, but they seem to bond to and cherish memories and people from a distance.  I think it's almost like a kind of 'acquired' happiness/respect/care, if that's possible.  That's why I don't think it's fair to compare Korean happiness to Spanish or Irish or American or any other type of 'happiness.'  Sorry to derail the discussion a bit, but studies like this [such as Seattle being the most 'fun' city in the US] kind of bother me.)

[woman-king]

Sad. 

[nardthefox]

Uber sad, though I'm not at all surprised. I can't imagine what life in high school would have been like without the release of organized sports, or time at home at night with family unwinding regularly, being able to read whatever I wanted as much as I wanted without fear of 'falling behind' in school, doing tons of extracurricular clubs, and spending summers working in different job fields and bumming by the pool. How friggin' HORRIBLE these poor kids have it when it comes to a well-rounded childhood. I swear, I hope they snap out of it and don't make their kids go through the hell they did.

[xtina.riley]

I live across from a high school, and today, on Children's day, I saw numerous kids still in school and heard the bell going off throughout the day!!! Jokingly, I said, "Ha! They must only have to go to school for 4 hours today instead of the usual 13!" So sad!

[WTEChesser]

I live across from a high school, and today, on Children's day, I saw numerous kids still in school and heard the bell going off throughout the day!!! Jokingly, I said, "Ha! They must only have to go to school for 4 hours today instead of the usual 13!" So sad!

I saw a LOT of students in uniforms today. I thought I had my days mixed up at first.

[hankmcmasters]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

i'm not sad

south korea is at the top of the education charts, and happy spain hovers around 25th

[H.W.]

Honestly I hated being a kid too.  I do not understand at ALL how being a kid is supposed to be fun.  You have to spend all day in a classroom listening to some boring adult drone through a boring textbook and then you go home, do more work and then you either watch TV until your mom screeches at you to go to bed, or you have to go to some tedious karate class or baseball practice.  I hated being a kid.  My life got better the second I hit high school.  I also got bullied a fair amount in elementary and middle, so I don't remember very many "cherished childhood friends" either.  My point though is that kids have no freedom, and adults often have no respect for their insight and intelligence.  I consistently felt talked down to as a kid and it made me into a little asshole 

[Nuggets]

Well, unhappy probably cause they go to school all day and night.  All to achieve that high paying executive job where they make lots of money working all day and night as well.

Also, oh a side note - I used to work in a Gangnam public school, and failed to see few trophy wives.  To me, that seems like a lose/breakeven ($$$)/lose situation.....

[sleepyinseoul]

does anyone have a link to this study about unhappiness?

[cragesmure]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

I'm not sad.
South Korea is at the top of one list that ranks education in various countries, and "happy" Spain hovers around 25th.

Fixed it for you.
Scores in reading and writing are obviously biased towards students whose first language is more simple in terms of phonetics and grammar, such as Korean.  We also have to take into account the "saving face" factor.  I have been told by bosses multiple times to adjust/lie about scores, attendance etc to placate the higher ups/parents.  If I refuse, the scores are just changed by the administration anyway.  That kind of thing is not tolerated so readily in the west.
I guess the 95% of Koreans have met over the past 10 years who have nothing but criticism for the education system here were wrong, which is why Korea has won ALL those Nobel prizes...

[woman-king]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

I'm not sad.
South Korea is at the top of one list that ranks education in various countries, and "happy" Spain hovers around 25th.

Fixed it for you.
Scores in reading and writing are obviously biased towards students whose first language is more simple in terms of phonetics and grammar, such as Korean.  We also have to take into account the "saving face" factor.  I have been told by bosses multiple times to adjust/lie about scores, attendance etc to placate the higher ups/parents.  If I refuse, the scores are just changed by the administration anyway.  That kind of thing is not tolerated so readily in the west.
I guess the 95% of Koreans have met over the past 10 years who have nothing but criticism for the education system here were wrong, which is why Korea has won ALL those Nobel prizes...

Yeah, I think comparing global test scores is a little dicey given that tests are so different in every country, the education systems and how they prepare for tests are so different, AND the ethos behind measuring these kinds of scores also differs, as you point out.    It's a lot harder to measure this kind of thing than like, rates of suicide, which just basically comes down to numbers.

Beyond that, I think it's REALLY important to point out that criticisms of the education system don't just come from disgruntled Waygooks!  I too have heard a lot of Korean teachers (usually the most experienced/traveled/skilled ones) comment negatively on the amount of time students spend on schoolwork and how it prevents them from having a normal childhood and how THAT is bad for their development as people.  A lot of my opinions about the education system here are partly based on what I've been told by other Koreans.

[natale_laplante]

Unsurprising, but still sad. I suppose all that schooling is meant to give them a taste of what their adult lives will be like; work all day and have no life outside of work.
I do feel bad for my students. I see that they hate the textbooks as much as I do, but they come alive when we start playing a game or doing something outside of what is required.
It hit me yesterday as I was walking towards Home Plus and seeing many children running about on the sidewalks, that I'm so glad I wasn't born here.

[scravens]

There was a thread about foreign parents or soon to be parents who were trying to decide on whether or not to put their kids in Korean schools. Well, I hope they read this thread and see that this might not be the best situation. I agree with woman-king and here assessment of test scores throughout the world. Korea is known to change their scores so that the iron-fist of the local government doesn't come smashing down. Sure these kids might test higher in math or science, but when it comes to social skills and real world application of these skills their mastery becomes obsolete. I had a couple of South Korean friends back in the states (adopted) and they knew quite a lot about the educational system in their native land. Let's just say they were happy to be in the US. Lord knows we, as a country, need to fix a lot in regards to our system of education, but I would much rather have my kids have freedoms that don't exist here.

This quote cracks me up: "behavior and lifestyle section with 129.3." Sure they test higher in these areas. I would too if I was beaten by teachers and parents and there were very few opportunities to experiment with life as we know it in the west. It is the well traveled Koreans that have some sense of what is wrong in this country and hopefully they will come to power.

[wafflebunny]

There was a thread about foreign parents or soon to be parents who were trying to decide on whether or not to put their kids in Korean schools. Well, I hope they read this thread and see that this might not be the best situation. I agree with woman-king and here assessment of test scores throughout the world. Korea is known to change their scores so that the iron-fist of the local government doesn't come smashing down. Sure these kids might test higher in math or science, but when it comes to social skills and real world application of these skills their mastery becomes obsolete. I had a couple of South Korean friends back in the states (adopted) and they knew quite a lot about the educational system in their native land. Let's just say they were happy to be in the US. Lord knows we, as a country, need to fix a lot in regards to our system of education, but I would much rather have my kids have freedoms that don't exist here.

This quote cracks me up: "behavior and lifestyle section with 129.3." Sure they test higher in these areas. I would too if I was beaten by teachers and parents and there were very few opportunities to experiment with life as we know it in the west. It is the well traveled Koreans that have some sense of what is wrong in this country and hopefully they will come to power.

Uh, Amen.

These precious babies are shell-shocked. I have NEVER met children with nerves as bad as them. They are too young and fragile to be so stressed. That is why me and my GOOD KTs try to remind them that they are still kids by doing nice, cute stuff for them. Childhood flies by quickly. And yes, well traveled Koreans are more open-minded about how ridiculous some things can be here. The Koreans I met and worked with here who are well traveled crack me up when they say things like, "...Western rationality" 

[Juno106]

i'm not sad

south korea is at the top of the education charts, and happy spain hovers around 25th

so what is the point of life? To have statistically high grades or be happy? Do you think perhaps sacrificing happiness at the beginning of your life will lead to more happiness is the long run?

Part of me thinks that having a good education in Korea basically means jack [mod edit] for how smart or great you are at doing a job...and especially it means nothign in how inspired and creative you will be....getting high scores just means you managed to jump through the loop holes and figure out how to do tests well.

[minamteacher]

Honestly I hated being a kid too.  I do not understand at ALL how being a kid is supposed to be fun.  You have to spend all day in a classroom listening to some boring adult drone through a boring textbook and then you go home, do more work and then you either watch TV until your mom screeches at you to go to bed, or you have to go to some tedious karate class or baseball practice.  I hated being a kid.  My life got better the second I hit high school.  I also got bullied a fair amount in elementary and middle, so I don't remember very many "cherished childhood friends" either.  My point though is that kids have no freedom, and adults often have no respect for their insight and intelligence.  I consistently felt talked down to as a kid and it made me into a little asshole 

Summer was a hell of a lot better when I was a kid. Summer camps, hanging out with friends, trips to the amusement part etc.

[heyitslep]

Here's the deal: Korea doesn't exactly have a lot of natural resources to work with. No child is going to go out to his parent's soy field and discover an oil field or anything. So in order to provide their children with a proper future that doesn't involve driving a soju truck, parents will make their kids into the best scientists and engineers in the world. This way, they'll have a lucrative future. Basically, the US exports grain, Korea exports engineers.