”Are parents born in the 1980s the problem?” Depression and anxiety among elementary school students on the rise in South Korea

It has been found that depression and anxiety are on the rise among elementary school students in Seoul. The increase in the use of YouTube and social media, as well as overprotective parents born in the 1980s, are contributing to this.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's Educational Research and Information Service's "Seoul Student Longitudinal Study 2020 Third Year Results Analysis Report" on the 19th, Seoul elementary school students' feelings of depression (out of 3 points) were
The score increased every year from 0.51 in 2021, when the study began, to 0.66 in 2022 and 0.73 in 2023. The longitudinal study included 113 elementary schools, 98 middle schools, and 99 high schools in Seoul.
The elementary school study followed students who were in the fourth grade in 2021 for three years. The study showed that the anxiety level of elementary school students (on a scale of one to one) for "excessive worry" rose from 0.44 points in 2021 to 20.
It will rise to 0.54 points in 2022 and 0.58 points in 2023. During the same period, "sensitivity" rose from 0.41 points to 0.47 points to 0.49 points, and "negative emotion" rose from 0.17 points to 0.24 points to 0.26 points.
The report said the reasons for the increase in negative emotions such as depression and anxiety among elementary school students were stress from schoolwork and friendships, and increased time spent using smartphones and social media.
The institute cited the isolation and economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 virus, as well as the reduction in sleep time.
"Through these activities, we indirectly experience the lives of others and communicate with them," he said. "We may feel a sense of relative deprivation when comparing our own lives to the glamorous lives of others, and provocative images and stories may have an impact on us."
One advisory committee member who participated in the study analyzed that the parenting attitudes of "parents born in the 1980s," the generation of elementary school students' parents, also influenced the increase in negative emotions among students.
The committee said, "Children who are overly emotionally protected and supported in the face of minor setbacks and anxieties tend to have high levels of anxiety and become overwhelmed by minor difficulties."
explained.