The Suicide Incidents Reported in Japan - Term Paper Example

Higher School Certificate Exam Pressures Drive Students to the Edge Introduction In many cultures, death is preferable to dishonor. This truism has been elevated into the equivalent of a moral code by poets and thinkers through the ages. Bulwer-Lytton for one wrote: “Come, Death, and snatch me from disgrace.” The idea that death is a more honorable option than living in shame and dishonor was abetted even from way, way back by the great philosopher Sophocles who said: “It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced.” The Japanese, in the face of possible disgrace and dishonor, would rather commit harakiri, a tradition that did not perish with the ancient samurai or the World War II kempetai as commonly believed but persisted in modern-day Japan. In causing one’s death, the methods being used today are different but the intent and motivation are more or less the same. One of the frequently used methods involves trains and railroad tracks. Most of the suicide incidents reported in Japan these days involve students who flunked, or knew they would flunk, a high-stakes college admission test administered uniformly to graduating high school students nationwide. Japanese students have been raised to believe that their very lives and future ride on this battery of tests such that failure to pass it could mean the end of the world for them. That means abasement and dishonor to the proud Japanese. In the psychology of suicides, however, it is said that it is not enough that one’s sense of pride and honor is wounded to want to end it all. A strong instigating factor is stress which, psychologists say, comes from feeling out of control. So if an individual is in control of his senses, he might still seek ways to redeem his fallen honor and thus vindicate himself. Suicide thus becomes an attractive path only for people stressed out by the prospects of failure, which could be the reason for the alarming incidence of such cases among Japanese students. The same thing could be happening to Australian students in the past few years. A pressure-packed series of tests for pre-college students similar to Japan’s college admission tests has since the 1960s created the same sort of problem for public health and safety in Australia. Like the Japanese exams, a great deal of importance had been attached to the tests for Australia’s Higher School Certificate (HSC) that passing it has become a do-or-die proposition for the students involved. Too much is expected from students going through this examination that flunking it is considered out of the question. The HSC is perceived to have become so stressful and emotionally draining to students that authorities are beginning to believe it has something to do with the rising incidence of student suicides in the country. HSC Pressures The HSC is administered exclusively for Australian students in Year-12 of their schooling, the final stage of secondary education in a school system that has every Australian citizen start schooling at Year-1. It comes as a series of qualifying tests and assessments actually started by the time students are in the last term of their 11th year in school. From there, the students will undergo the examinations regularly up to the fourth and last term of their Year-12 studies when the HSC culminates into its most rigorous finals. In the more simple years of the past, most school systems around the world did not have screening procedures for high school students seeking a college education. If you had the means albeit without the brains you could go to any college of your choice. If you end up a square peg in a round hole, making the round of universities without accomplishing anything, that was your business. But then the population everywhere got into overdrive and we begun to live in a highly competitive world. Educational reforms had to be instituted to prevent such waste of time and money and to match jobs with the appropriate skills. The HSC was the response of Australia’s educational system to the challenges of the times. Unlike most tests to qualify high school students for entry into college, however, the HSC does more than measure Australian students’ ability and competence for tertiary education. As such the HSC results are used as basis for gaining entry into courses at the vocational/technical and collegiate levels. Any Year-12 student who passes the HSC with flying colors will be allowed to pick his choice of the more demanding liberal arts and engineering courses in college which take four years or more. If the HSC grade he obtains is middling, his career option will be limited to technical courses which require two years of study at the most. As for those who flunk the tests, they face the prospect of digging ditches for the rest of their lives. But the business sector made the HSC a really high-pressure affair when management of companies everywhere in Australia begun some 10 years ago to adopt the tests as their own criteria for hiring employees. This means that there is no decent job waiting for Year-12 students who performed poorly at the HSC. No studies have as yet been conducted on the possible link between the tests and the unemployment rate in Australia but the high casualty rate in HSC in recent years could reflect in the country’s unemployment rate which approached 7 per cent in 2000, high by OECD standards. It was around this period when the students’ stress reaction to the HSC begun to elicit some alarm. One of the more recent changes in the HSC was the assignment of rankings to the successful examinees to give the tests more prestige. Media has stepped into the picture by fanning public interest in the tests, giving publicity mileage to the top 10 scorers as if the HSC were the bar exam itself. From this list of the top HSC examinees, the best colleges draw their short list of preferred students and companies their choices of future employees. As more prestige was attached to the HSC, secondary schools begun to vie for the honor of having its students top the tests as well as accounting for the most number of students to achieve a passing grade. Soon, the curriculum content of all secondary schools were geared for the HSC final assessment. Stress Response With everything riding on their performance at the HSC, Australian Year-12 students are going over the edge. A recent study by Karen McGraw, resident psychologist at the University of Swinburne, revealed that at least one in five of these students had thought of “cutting or burning” themselves because of homework and exam pressures. McGraw raised the alarm on “stress from the HSC and its effects on the students’ mental health“ based on interviews with 941 Year-12 students in Victoria. HSC-related suicides has indeed become a cause for concern. In terms of suicide incidence per population size, the Australian Bureau of Statistics placed acts of suicide among Australian males aged 15 to 19 at 7.5 per 100,000 persons. It was 4.8 suicides per 100,000 among females in the same 15-19 age bracket, which is the age group of Year-12 students. This is relatively low compared to the other age groups such as the 30-34 year olds which numbered 29.2 per 100,000. But the human and economic costs are incalculable just the same. In 2004, according to the BS data, 53 males aged 15-19 died in their own hands, down from a high 89 in 2003. As for females in the same age range, there were 32 suicides in 2004, up from 24 the previous year. Michael Carr-Gregg, another eminent Australian psychologist, confirmed that one in 11 completed suicides were the result of Year-12 stress. Carr-Gregg noted that such depression was unnoticeable in students before Year-9, building up and exploding as the students reach Year-12 because of the HSC. There was no such pressure from the type of HSC that their parents took 10 years ago. Going back to McGraw, results of her study were released on the heels of a report saying that Australian scientists had discovered conclusive proof that stress causes physical sickness. During periods of stress, the body is said to release a hormone called neuropeptide Y that dampens the body’s immune system. Thus it is likely that many Year-12 students distressed by HSC may also suffer from stress-related illness, which only serves to increase the heavy pressures that homework and examinations for the HSC placed upon them. Smith, Lorraine & Sinclair, Kenneth (University of Sydney, 1990) reported that 31 per cent of Year-12 and 25 per cent of Year-11 students had suffered anxiety, stress and depression which fell “outside the normal range.” Hodge, McCormick & Elliott (1997) agreed that a high proportion of Year-12 students were at risk of severe psychological illness. Emotional distress was reported in 42 per cent of Year 11 students and 56 per cent in Year-12. Nearly one-third of all students interviewed in the Smith & Sinclair study admitted to distress after the HSC trial exams and prior to the final exams. Recommendations To prevent any further incidents of the kind, psychological experts advocate a goal-oriented culture of learning in Australian schools, in which students are focused on mastering the learning tasks assigned to them, on performance outcomes and the results of these in relation to other students. Schools must develop “self-efficacy,” meaning positive attitude and behavior, perseverance in the face of difficulties and optimism. Smith & Sinclair (1990). Perceptions of low efficacy in exercising control can give rise to anxiety and depression. The goal-orientation that schools must develop must be based on high achievement motivation, low fear of failure and high expectations on competence. Such orientation must be geared on approach rather than avoidance. Elliott & Church (1997) as quoted by Smith and Sinclair. In most cases, Smith & Sinclair noted, the goals were performance-oriented rather than mastery. For Year-11 students, the overall goal was mastery and it switches to a demand for performance going into Year-12. Support Systems Acknowledging student stress as a serious problem the Australian government and other concerned sectors have put in place an increasing number of support systems for students showing the tell-tale signs. An outreach program called “Reachout” has recently added an extensive array of fact sheets and tips for managing stress in schools and universities, together with a community forum on the subject Media Australia, a leading producer of education and training firms, has produced a 21-minute video clip that instructs final-year secondary students on how to cope with stress. The Department of Education, Science and Training has also set up an extensive website for Year-12 students, which gives advice on another stressful aspect of student life – planning for the future in terms of entering tertiary education or the workforce. Other support facilities established on the subject include Lifeline, a 24-hour counseling and referral service; Kids Helpline, a counseling service for people under 18; Just Ask, which provides information on mental health in rural areas; Men’s Line Australia, a 24-hour counseling service for men; and SANE Helpline, a mental illness information, support and referral service. In addition, the government imposes stricter guidelines on media reporting with an eye on preventing suicides. Coming out with such stories too often, it is feared, may convey the impression that it is normal and an acceptable option. Even frequent use of the word suicide is frowned upon as it may present the act as a solution to problems. Media is also cautioned against a detailed description of the method used and location of the suicide as it may prompt some vulnerable people to act in imitation. Copycat suicide is believed possible from sensationalized media play of such stories, especially when they involve celebrities. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (1994-2004). “Suicides.” www.abs.gov.au Commonwealth of Australia (2006). “Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness.” www.mindframe-media.info. Gough, Deborah & Edwards, Hannah (2006). “Pressure Takes Big Toll on Students.” http://www.theage.com.au/news/nationa/pressure-takes-big-tollon-students/2006/04/15/1144521546944.html Smith, Lorraine & Sinclair, Kenneth (2006). “Stress and Learning in the Higher School Certificate.” University of Sydney Read More