South Korean children are the least happy in a study among developed countries, the government said last week, citing the stress of the country’s educational pressure cooker.

South Korea ranked at the bottom among 30 countries in terms of children’s satisfaction with their lives, the country’s health ministry said.

“The most relevant factor to the children’s life satisfaction is academic stress, followed by school violence, Internet addiction, negligence and cyber violence,” the ministry said of its survey of more than 4,000 households with children younger than 18.

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim, himself born in South Korea, said the educational system put a heavy burden on children, with its focus on competition and long hours of work.

South Korea’s survey results were measured against those of 27 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) grouping of 34 wealthy countries, plus Romania, Latvia and Lithuania.

The survey, the first such exercise by the South Korean Government, comes as around 600,000 students gear up for the annual college entrance exam, with places in prestigious schools and a pathway to a secure job at a top corporation on the line.

More than half of children aged between 15 and 19 who are suicidal give “academic performance and college entrance” as a reason, according to National Statistics Korea.

South Korean parents are well-known for marching their children off to cram schools until late in the evening, and beginning English tutoring in kindergarten.

South Korea also made a poor showing in the survey’s child deprivation index, which includes child poverty as well as time for hobbies and school or club activities. It came in last, after Hungary and Portugal.

韩国儿童在幸福调查中垫底

韩国政府上周表示，与其他发达国家儿童相比，韩国儿童是最不快乐的，导致这种现象的原因是其国内教育制度对儿童的重压。

韩国卫生部表示，在针对儿童生活满意度的调查中，韩国在30个发达国家中排名垫底。

卫生部表示：“对儿童生活满意度影响最大的是学业压力，其次是校园暴力，网瘾，家人疏忽以及网络暴力。” 这项调查由4000个有18岁以下未成年人的家庭共同参与。

出生在韩国的世界银行行长金墉表示，现行的教育体系充满竞争，要求长时间学习，给儿童造成了巨大的负担。

韩国将自己的调查结果与34个富裕国家组成的经济合作与发展组织中的27个成员国、以及罗马尼亚，拉脱维亚和立陶宛相比较得出这一结论。

这是韩国政府首次进行此类调查，调查在高考前夕进行。每年有60万学生为此拼搏，期望拔得头筹，能进入名校然后得到名企的安稳工作。

据韩国统计局显示，在15至19岁自杀的儿童中，超过半数的自杀原因是“学业表现不佳和高考”。

韩国的父母因将孩子送到补习班学习至深夜，并从幼儿园就开始英语辅导而闻名于世。

在儿童被剥夺感指数的调查中，韩国儿童的调查结果也不容乐观。这项调查内容包括儿童贫困状况以及儿童花在兴趣活动、学校和社团活动上的时间。韩国位列倒数第一，排在匈牙利和葡萄牙之后。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

  【上瘾】

    shàngyǐn

    addiction

    the condition of being abnormally dependent on some habit

    【做好准备】

    zuòhǎo zhǔnbèi

    gear up

    make or get ready for a future event or situation