By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Stress is hitting children earlier these days, inducing many to smoke, drink, have sex and behave wildly, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Tuesday.
However, schools and families are unable to cope with the changing reality. According to research on 14,716 middle and high school students and 1,597 teenagers in correctional facilities, some children started to view pornographic material online or buy it when they were 11-12 years old. A study conducted five years ago had the age at 14, the ministry said.
About 19 percent of non-juvenile delinquents had smoked with 22 percent of these starting when they were 13 years old, or middle school juniors. About 37 percent had consumed alcohol with 17 percent starting at the age of 12.
About 5 percent of males and 2 percent of females had experienced sex ― the first experiences taking place at 13 for females and 14 for males.
Sexual activity jumped to 44 percent for juvenile delinquents, half of whom said they smoked every day, almost double the smoking rate of adults.
Educational experts say children and teenagers are much more ``mature'' than adults think. ``They know about sex and are not ashamed to talk about it. Many elementary school seniors have trouble with their teachers over drinking and smoking,'' an elementary school teacher in Gangnam, southern Seoul, said.
``Everyone talks about everything in the classroom. Sex, abortion, running away and anything else can happen,'' a middle school senior, who declined to be named, said. ``I have friends who have had abortions and we don't think that is something to be condemned by society,'' he said.
In fact, according to Kid's Hankooki Ilbo, targeting elementary school students, 63 percent of 286 elementary school seniors have boyfriends or girlfriends. More than 4 percent of the 11 year-olds said they had ``French kissed'' with their friends, and said it helps them to feel less lonely and much more bonded.
``We know what we are doing and we don't think it causes problems,'' the paper quoted a respondent as saying.
However, the government and school's countermeasures are quite outdated, the ministry's survey showed.
More than 52 percent of respondents said sex education at school has little or no effect on their ideas toward sex, and conventional methods of showing fetuses being conceived by eggs meeting sperm and telling students to refrain from being with the opposite sex or going out with them are also outdated, experts said.
``It seems that the age bracket for such behavior is getting younger but the authorities stick to the old fashioned method of condemning teenagers alone. We need fundamental changes in how we perceive the younger generation,'' the elementary school teacher said.