Out-of-school youth are three times more likely to make ‘extreme choices’… The Office of Education calls 119 – Seoul Shinmun

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education prepares the nation’s first manual
If you have signs of wanting to die, make an emergency report directly.
Immediate connection to hospitals such as psychiatry and emergency rooms

A response manual has been created where the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education directly reports out-of-school youth who show signs of suicide or self-harm to 119 or 112 and connects them to hospitals. Out-of-school youth are at a higher risk of suicide than school youth, but in response to criticism that there is no appropriate response, response guidelines were prepared for the first time in the country.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 4th that it will produce ‘Crisis Guidelines for Out-of-School Youth Response’ and distribute them to youth help centers.

‘Out-of-school youth’ refers to youth who discontinue their studies before completing the regular curriculum. According to the ‘Teen Youth Mental Health Survey’ conducted by the Korea Youth Policy Institute in 2021, the risk of suicide among out-of-school youth was about three times higher than that of school youth. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, “Despite the high risk of suicide, we created the guidelines because there are no response guidelines for crisis situations among out-of-school youth.”

According to the guidelines, crisis situations are divided into emergency, emergency, and semi-emergency. The emergency level is when a youth attempts or hints at suicide or self-harm, or shows psychotic symptoms and violent behavior, and calls to immediately report to 119 or 112. Afterwards, contact with the guardian, recognition and action by the public official in charge, and linkage to the psychiatric department are made.

The emergency stage is when signs of suicide or self-harm attempts are seen during consultation or when a person may attempt suicide or self-harm due to panic attacks or psychotic symptoms. When the counselor relays the situation to the public official in charge, the public official calls 119 or 112, contacts the legal guardian, and then has the person receive medical treatment at a hospital, such as an emergency room. For example, when an out-of-school youth discovers content suggesting a suicide attempt, it is considered an ’emergency’, the legal guardian is contacted, and depending on the student’s condition, the student is referred to hospital treatment.

The semi-emergency stage is when there are signs of suicide but no specific plan, so an emergency report is not made and a guardian is contacted and a psychiatric consultation is recommended.

The action guidelines also include ways to detect signs of extreme choices. If an out-of-school youth directly comments things like ‘I want to die,’ ‘I’m better off without you,’ or ‘I can’t sleep because I’m anxious,’ or feels excessive helplessness or despair, we collect tools related to extreme choices or change hygiene conditions. In cases where the behavior appears to be that of wanting to be alone, caution should be exercised.

The city office of education also decided to provide additional support to targeted youth. In addition to temporary protection measures for the youth, we plan to provide external professional psychological counseling, treatment and prevention education in connection with the Youth Mental Health Center.

Reporter Kim Ji-ye