Foreword - edb.gov.hk

1 Foreword suicide is one of the major causes of death among our youth in Hong Kong and many parts of the world. Yet we believe that with collaborated efforts of the community, suicide is preventable. The Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides (the Committee) was set up in response to the suicide spate among our school children in the period of March and April this year. Members of the Committee and the five Working Groups have been working tirelessly in the past 6 months with a common goal of preventing the occurrence of further tragedies.

2 The Committee has identified multifactorial causes of suicide among our students as well as knowledge and service gaps on suicide prevention. We strive to work towards removing barriers and strengthening the existing systems to tackle student suicides in a more comprehensive manner. Specifically, schools need support to be able to free up time and space to care for their students ; families and youth need more knowledge on mental health needs and ways to seek help; gaps in mental health service system also need to be filled.

3 All in all, student suicide is not an issue confined to the education setting, the prevention of which would require collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in the community. We therefore appeal to the community for your support. From an ecological approach placing students at the centre, the pooled efforts, especially from the Government, schools, families and media, are essential in reinforcing measures on the intrapersonal, interpersonal and social levels. The ultimate goal is to create a tightly knitted support network where a sense of connectedness permeates throughout the community to strengthen each member s resilience to setbacks in life and to bring about a caring culture with heightened awareness and acceptance.

4 To achieve this, we must understand that suicide prevention is everyone s responsibility. We all can make a difference. While the Committee strives to proffer comprehensive recommendations on student suicide prevention, the overall scope and complexity of the issue, the pressing time frame and so on prove to be a big challenge to overcome. Yet, the strong desire to make changes in the community and the enthusiasm to help our students have provided us with hope to respond to the challenge. There are indeed no easy solutions to complex problems.

5 However, we strongly believe and emphasise that the seemingly meagre measures standing alone could yield great resilience and proactive strength when implemented together. We are confident that with ownership of the problem, leadership of the measures, and perseverance in our efforts, we can enhance our capacity to prevent suicide tragedies among our precious youth. Professor Paul YIP, Siu-fai Chairman, Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides Final Report Table of Contents Pages Foreword Executive Summary i - xvii Chapter 1: Introduction Background 1 Objectives of the Report 5 Composition of the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides 6 Composition of the Working Group 6 Progress of Work by the Committee 7 Chapter 2: Global and Local Analysis Data Collection on Recent Student Suicides 9 Analysis 1: suicide Rate 11 Analysis 2.

6 suicide Means and Plan 13 Analysis 3: Gender and Class Levels 15 Analysis 4: suicide Clusters and Contagion 17 Analysis 5: Risk Factors 19 (a) Primary and Secondary Schools 22 Areas of Concern (i) Mental Health 23 (ii) Psychological Concern 24 (iii) Relationship Problems 25 (iv) Adjustment Difficulties 25 (b) Post-secondary Institutions 26 Summing Up 27 Chapter Three: Discussion Discussion 28 (i) Mental Health 29 (ii) School 36 (iii) Youth/Post-secondary Institutions 45 (iv) Families 49 (v) Traditional Media/Social Media 54 Summing Up 57 Chapter 4.

7 Recommendations and Conclusion Recommendations 58 (i) Enhancement of Student Support at Schools and Post-secondary Institutions 62 (ii) Enhancement of Support to Families 74 (iii) Enhancement of Roles of Traditional and Social Media 78 (iv) Promotion of Multiple Articulation Pathways 82 (v) Other Related Views on the Education System 83 Conclusion 85 References 87 Appendices Appendix I: The Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides Progress Report 92 Appendix II: Focus of Discussion in Committee Meetings 110 Appendix III: Prevailing Services Related to suicide Prevention and Support for students Mental and Developmental Needs 111 Appendix IV.

8 Policies and Practices of suicide Prevention in Other Countries 122 Acknowledgements i Executive Summary To address the spate of student suicides in the 2015/16 school year, the Education Bureau (EDB), among others, set up the Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides (the Committee) on 30 March 2016, which was tasked to (1) examine the possible causes of recent student suicides in Hong Kong based on the analysis of the latest available data as well as reference drawing from global research; (2 ) advise on the areas of existing services related to suicide prevention that could be strengthened; and (3) propose measures to prevent student suicides.

9 2. The Committee comprises 21 members from different sectors of the community including public health experts, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, teachers, principals, parents, youth and government officials. It is chaired by Professor Paul Yip, the Director of the Centre for suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP) at the University of Hong Kong. Five Working Groups on Mental Health, Schools, Families, Media and Youth/Post-secondary Institutions have been set up, with the aim to providing more in-depth discussion in each of the areas.

10 The Committee has examined the 71 suicide cases in primary schools, secondary schools and post-secondary institutions in the last three school/academic years, as well as other related information (including reports from the Coroner s Court, the Police, the Department of Health (DH), the Social Welfare Department (SWD), the EDB, schools and other related reports). ii 3. suicide is a complicated social problem with multifactorial causes. The present investigation reveals that multiple factors have interacted and contributed to students suicidal behaviours, including mental health issues, psychological concerns, family relationship and adjustment problems, peer relationship problems, school adjustment and academic stress.