1 out of 27 goes to the hospital... What is happening to elementary students?

On the 13th, according to the announcement by the teachers' group Joheun Gyosa Undong, an analysis of data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service showed that there were about 152,000 ADHD patients and 88,000 depression patients. This accounts for 3.7% of the total child and adolescent population (about 6.5 million), meaning that on average, 1 out of 2 visits the hospital for these two disorders.

The number of related patients, which was 80,800 in 2017, has nearly tripled in 8 years. The ADHD rate was highest at 2.9% for ages 5 to 9, and depression peaked at 2.9% for ages 15 to 19.

Joheun Gyosa Undong pointed out, “The current ratio of specialist counseling teachers assigned to schools is less than 50%, and the rate of neglect without additional linkage after emotional and behavioral characteristic tests exceeds 27%.” They further argued, “It is urgent to reform the system to enable early intervention and treatment through the placement of professional personnel.”