Hong Kong education experts weigh options for addressing student suicide problem

The number of student deaths due to suicide has almost tripled in 10 years

Originally published on Global Voices

The number one cause for suicide is untreated depression. Depression is treatable and suicide is preventable. You can get help from confidential support lines for the suicidal and those in emotional crisis. Visit Befrienders.org to find a suicide prevention helpline in your country.

It's no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on mental health — particularly for vulnerable young people. However, in Hong Kong, the situation seems particularly dire, as suicide rates among young people have spiked in the last few years, with 2.8 percent of students considering suicide in the 2022–2023 academic year — one of the highest rates in the world.

While education experts have weighed in on the issues, one life education trainer, Ricky Tse, made the following controversial comment in a press conference. 

所有價值觀，其實只要為人設想，便會知甚麼是禮儀、甚麼是智慧、甚麼是責任感、甚麼是尊重，所以所有價值觀去到最後就是文化核心，為對方設想多些，所以學生生命教育，如果你會多想社會責任、家長期望、你走後家人會怎樣，其他人會怎樣，你會多設想這個精神便不會做傻事

All values essentially come down to considering others. Then, you will know what etiquette, wisdom, responsibility, and respect are. Values are essentially cultural core, which is to be considerate to others. Hence, life education for students requires them to think more about social responsibility and parental expectations. What would happen to your family and others if you were gone? With such spirit, then you won’t do anything stupid. 

Tse is the head of the Life Education Centre of Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education. “Life education” is a teaching pedagogy that prioritizes students’ spiritual development in education. His comments that the rise in suicides was due to a value deficit among young people triggered a backlash within the community, as many said the views were insensitive and worried that such viewpoints could lead to more student deaths. 

A Facebook-based discussion group on student suicide issued a statement condemning Tse for his callous remarks and for ignoring the plight of students.

…撒瑪利亞防止自殺會曾指出「學童或青年的壓力大多來自父母期望過高」…現今，謝主任再次建議學生多想家長期望，無疑是輕言學生所面對的壓力。

…the Samaritan Befrienders [a local suicide prevention group] has pointed out that ‘most of the pressure on students or young people comes from their parents’ high expectations’ … Now, Mr. Tse again suggested that students should think more about their parents’ expectations. His speech has trivialised the pressure students face.

謝主任指出，企圖自殺乃「做傻事」。…有自殺念頭的人往往正面臨著極大的痛苦，故不應簡單地把自殺描繪為一個愚笨的行為。不論是否認同他們的行為，亦應尊重和肯定他們的經歷及感受。本聯席促請各界在形容自殺事件時，避免使用「傻事」、「輕生」等字眼…

Mr. Tse referred to attempting suicide as ‘doing something stupid’ … Suicidal people are often in great pain, and their act should not be simply portrayed as being stupid. Their experiences and feelings should be respected and recognized, regardless of the rights or wrongs of their behaviour. We urge all sectors to refrain from using words such as ‘stupidity’ and ‘recklessness’ when describing suicide incidents…

Student suicide has become a severe social problem in recent years. The Hong Kong government’s most updated public statistics indicate the number of student suicide deaths had almost tripled in 10 years and reached a record high of 23 cases in 2023. In this same year, 6.9 percent of students aged 6 to 17 had suicidal behaviours, and 24.4 percent suffered from mental health issues, a government-commissioned study showed.

Data drawn from public schools’ student counselling cases indicated that vast numbers of students are suffering from mental health issues (37 percent), followed by family problems (20 percent) and school-related problems (20 percent). Major mental disorders found in schools include attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorder; anxiety disorder; and depressive disorder. 

Acknowledging the problem, the Education Bureau has allocated more resources for school-based social workers and educational psychologists, parent education, and school-based emergency protocols for student mental health support. 

Education experts also stepped in to comment on the issue.

Upon releasing a survey that showed 15 percent of students had suicidal thoughts and 70 percent of the students felt desperate or confused about their lives in a press conference, Tse urged for a better approach to life education in a press conference.

He sees Chinese culture as a spiritual touchstone that can help students mitigate stresses and pressures to self-harm. He argued that education should be based on traditional Chinese culture and values:

生命教育應與中華傳統文化的價值觀教育、道德教育結合，因為中華文化的核心精神就是關顧別人的仁愛與同理心，從來強調多元、互動及包容。

‘Life education’ should be integrated with the value education and moral education of traditional Chinese culture because the core spirit of Chinese culture is to care for others with love and empathy, and it has always emphasized diversity, interaction, and tolerance.

Originating from Australia in 1979, the concept of “life education” was initially introduced by a Christian pastor who addressed youth delinquency, such as drug abuse, with a spiritual approach. The pedagogy has been increasingly considered an effective intervention to reduce unnatural deaths, in particular, suicides, among Chinese societies across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan alike, though each has taken a different pedagogical approach.

In Hong Kong, the public school life education curriculum was initiated by some 20 Christian schools in 1999 to address issues related to school violence and youth gang problems. A decade later, in 2010, the Education Bureau started allocating budgets for schools to adopt the curriculum.

Since 2021, life education has been embedded in the city’s elementary schools’ Values Education Curriculum, along with national education, moral education, etc. The objectives of the Curriculum are to deepen students’ understanding of correct values and Chinese virtues, to promote their recognition of these values and to cultivate empathy, a positive attitude towards life and affection for the country and Hong Kong, and finally, to help them practise correct and good behaviours. There are 12 traits listed as correct values and Chinese virtues, including perseverance, respect for others, responsibility, national identity, commitment, integrity, benevolence, law-abidingness, empathy, diligence, unity and filial piety.

The initial Christian approach to life education, which stresses the individual pursuit of the meaning of life, has slowly given way to the Chinese cultural and nationalistic approach, which stresses establishing one's sense of self through familial/communal and national values — in recent years, some schools would ask students to demonstrate filial piety to their parents by kneeling to offer a cup of tea (see top image), and some would ask students to make speeches during the national flag raising ritual about their duty to society and their nation.

Tse's approach to life education is in alignment with the Value Education Curriculum guidelines, but his remarks resulted in a massive backlash on social media, and he had to apologise for his choice of words two days later. 

The issue at stake is not just about stigmatizing suicide as a stupid act but the suggestion that Chinese culture and values can solve the student suicide  problem, as pointed out by prominent writer Fung Hei-kin, who argued that the mainstream Confucian culture, which advocates “self-sacrifice” (usually to the country), often worsens mental health and leads to suicide:

中華文化包羅萬有，諸子百家持論已各有不同，能跟「預防自殺」拉上關係的價值觀，我只勉強想到愛談養生保性的莊子。然而主流傳統文化非但不排斥自殺，更往往對自殺者大表讚揚——自殺到讓你每年放一日假的屈原，正是抱持傳統中華價值觀者皆翹首仰望的偉人，謝教授又是否該譴責他不顧社會責任、不為他人着想呢？

Chinese culture encompasses many schools of thoughts. I can only think of Zhuang Zi, who loved to talk about maintaining one's health and preserving one's nature, as a value that can be associated with the prevention of suicide. As for the mainstream traditional Chinese culture, it rarely rejects suicide but often praises those who commit suicide. For example, Qu Yuan, his suicide has been honored with a public holiday [Dragon Boat Festival], is precisely a great man upheld by those who embraced traditional Chinese values. Should Prof. Tse condemn him for disregarding his social responsibility and not thinking of others?

What really pisses people off is the ideological approach, which suppresses individual needs in favour of cultural and national collectivism in addressing life and death matters. 

Written by Oiwan Lam