Youth workers and academics have called for the provision of practical life-skill training in schools to help stem a rising trend of teenage suicides.
More than 100 teenagers have killed themselves in Hong Kong in the past five years, four times the rate of people aged between 10 and 20 committing suicide in the UK, say the Samaritans.
The latest cases occurred on Sunday when three secondary school classmates, two girls and a boy, died by burning charcoal in a rented room in Bella Vista Villa on Cheung Chau. The reasons for their action are not known, but they have prompted concern about the inadequacy of life education in Hong Kong. Youth workers say words alone are not enough to help teenagers come to terms with frustrations or prompt them to seek support.
'Schools have tried to instil positive values among students but their teaching is having a diminishing effect on young people, who do not see its relevance to their lives,' said Spencer So Siu-hong, executive director of youth outreach organisation, Kely Support Group. For five years the organisation has been running life-skill camps for senior secondary school students with the Samaritans and the Outward Bound School. They offer workshops on communication skills, how to detect despair in others, assertiveness, leadership and team-building.
Participants are expected to help raise awareness about suicide issues and organise similar workshops in their schools following the training.
The groups agree that teenagers should also be equipped with listening skills so they can provide support to their troubled peers and, when necessary, direct them to professional workers.
'We have to bring discussions of suicide out of the closet and help students talk about their feelings more,' said Stephanie Kumaria, director of the Samaritans Multilingual branch. Encouraging peer support was important, she noted, because of the common reluctance among students to share their problems with parents or teachers.
