teenage suicide

[teppic]

i received bad news today that one of my highschool students from last year killed herself yesterday.

she was 17, a straight A student and very pretty. it just does not make sense.

schools here in korea place so much pressure on the students that most are open from 8 a.m through to midnight.

She was a bit of a loner and i tried to bring her out of her shell by awarding her the student of the month for last september. i'll always remember her beaming smile as she walked forward to receive the award.

her name was Kim Kyung Ah.

since i opened my own school, i've been in touch with many of my old students and received over 200 good luck cards from them all.

a teacher really makes a bond with a student and to an extent it's like a big extended family.

myself and all the teachers at the school are choked. everyone is going over events, wondering if they did something different she would still be here. the students are distraught, wondering if a misplaced word set her off.

this is not a message to anyone in particular. i just wanted to get my thoughts down.

kyung ah, i'll miss you. i'm so sorry you felt this was the only option.

god bless you xxx

 

[Dutch Toffee]

i received bad news today that one of my highschool students from last year killed herself yesterday.

she was 17, a straight A student and very pretty. it just does not make sense.

schools here in korea place so much pressure on the students that most are open from 8 a.m through to midnight.

She was a bit of a loner and i tried to bring her out of her shell by awarding her the student of the month for last september. i'll always remember her beaming smile as she walked forward to receive the award.

her name was Kim Kyung Ah.

since i opened my own school, i've been in touch with many of my old students and received over 200 good luck cards from them all.

a teacher really makes a bond with a student and to an extent it's like a big extended family.

myself and all the teachers at the school are choked. everyone is going over events, wondering if they did something different she would still be here. the students are distraught, wondering if a misplaced word set her off.

this is not a message to anyone in particular. i just wanted to get my thoughts own.

kyung ah, i'll miss you. i'm so sorry you felt this was the only option.

god bless you xxx

Sorry to hear that. Feel sorry for you and can imagine you will be shocked.

R.I.P.

 

[Nebbiolo]

Bad news. Poor girl must have felt there was no other way to escape the pressure. Sad, very sad.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Probably a reminder tep to remind all students that theres more, much more to life than getting an A on a piece of paper.

 

[teppic]

that is easy to say in the uk, where perhaps it is a more level playing field regarding results, but over here if you don't get in to a top uni you can say goodbye to samsung or whatever dream you had. the system here in korea let her down. and thousands like her.

but i know your point.


i'll be making it loud and clear to all my students. the irony of course being an extracurricular tutor being the one with the responsibility to counsel students of over worked stress.

 

[Nebbiolo]

If Korea is anything like Japan, there is a different ethic regarding expectation of gifted children. My wife was at Sophia university in Tokyo for a few months (she did German/Japanese at university) and she reports a very different vibe from the UK. To a lot of students there, failure wasn't failing an exam, it was not realising their dream.

 

[chicoazul]

Terrible, terrible waste of life.


The family must be having a terrible time of it. Bad, bad shame.