Students take the National Assessment of Academic Achievement at Daegu Girls’ High School in Suseong-gu, Daegu, May 7. Newsis
The first year of high school was the least happy period for Korean adults in their 20s during their school years, largely because of concerns over academic performance and college entrance exams, a study showed.
The nonprofit Forum for National Transformation into Gross National Happiness released the findings Sunday. Commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the online survey asked 51 Seoul residents in their early 20s to look back on their happiness levels during their school years.
The survey found that happiness dropped noticeably around major transition years, including the first years of middle and high school.
On a 10-point scale, respondents rated their happiness at 8.1 before entering elementary school. The score fell to 7.49 in the lower grades of elementary school and 7.18 in the upper grades, before dropping further to 6.63 in the first year of middle school. It remained at 6.65 in the second year and slipped to 6.53 in the third year.
Happiness reached its lowest point, 5.88, in the first year of high school. The survey cited difficulty adjusting to a new environment and peer relationships as the main reasons.
For the rest of high school, however, happiness levels edged up, rising to 6.24 in the second year and 6.25 in the third. Researchers attributed the increase to relief from the stress of entering high school and the formation of new peer relationships.
Respondents said the biggest factor shaping their happiness shifted from family to friends as they moved through different stages of school. Meanwhile, the main source of unhappiness changed from homework and after-school academies in elementary school to entrance exams and academic performance in middle and high school.
The high school years were dominated by the pressure of college entrance exams, while stress over academic performance and anxiety about an uncertain future were also evident, the researchers wrote.
“The purpose of education needs to shift from a focus on academic performance to the pursuit of students’ happiness,” the study concluded. It listed expanding students’ right to self-determination, strengthening cooperation between schools and local communities and rebuilding trust among the students, teachers and parents as key priorities.
Source: Korea Times News
