Depression and other psychological problems are rife among school students and their teachers in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District, a new survey reveals.

 

The survey, commissioned by the district's political consultative conference, shed light on the fact that anxiety about school caused sleeping disorders among 19.4 percent of elementary students, 28.9 percent of junior high school students and 36.8 percent of senior high school students. Over 41 percent of senior high school students were also found to be battling depression and the frequency and severity of such problems increased in higher grades. .

 

The survey further revealed that this situation did not improve among teachers with 46 percent of all teachers complaining from mental exhaustion after work, oftentimes leading them to quit their jobs or retiring early.

 

The most common ailments registered were insomnia afflicting 21.5 percent; 11 percent of them feeling the urge to insult their students; and 26.9 percent of them feeling misunderstood.

 

Yuexiu district has 98 elementary and secondary schools with some 121,000 students and 7,000 teachers.

 

"The psychological status of the students and teachers in the district is far worse than previously thought," lamented Yang Yaming, an architect of the survey. "Related authorities and school leaders must act now before the situation worsens. Serious psychological problems might lead to suicide or violence against others."

 

Yang called for counseling and other mental health services to be provided immediately for the students and teachers alike.

 

Lin Jianhong, a teacher at the high school affiliated to South China Normal University, and father of an 8-year old daughter, underlined that psychological problems among students and teachers were widespread.

 

"This problem is not just restricted to the Yuexiu District," he said. "The psychological problems pervade across most primary and secondary schools in Guangzhou, if not in all the big cities in the nation.

 

"My daughter is in grade three at elementary school and I once weighed her schoolbag to find that it was over three kilograms.

 

"It is packed with text books, additional books and exercise books and she seems to have endless homework to do."

 

Lin said he did not place unnecessary pressure on his daughter to study, decrying that "when other parents urge their children to learn this and learn that with schools offering one training program after another, it is sometimes very difficult to stand out," he said.

 

(China Daily March 20, 2007)