When Virginia Tech needed someone to help Korean students deal with the mass shootings last April, they contacted Harvard education lecturer Josephine Kim, who spent two weeks with the students in Falling Waters, West Virginia. After this experience, she realized the need to reach out to young Korean-Americans coping with high expectations, communication barriers, and intercultural conflicts and set up Mustard Seed Generation, a non-profit Christian organization that does outreach to Korean and Korean-Americans. A JoongAng Ilbo profile of Dr. Kim contains this disturbing statistic:
While Korean international students and Korean-American students account for about 10 percent of all students in the Ivy League, studies show that they comprise more than 60 percent of suicides in the Ivy League
19 Comments
That’s really tragic. I wonder how much help infrastructure is available, and how well its availability is communicated to the Koram students.
It’s great to know that there is work being done to address mental health issues of young Korean-American students. I do hope though, that people realize some of that stress comes from expectations set by religious fundamentalists within the Korean community.
I am not knocking on trying to solve real world problems through spiritual means. But I also can’t help but feel slight skepticism over MSG’s insular approach.
#2 I agree. What will happen to the other 40% who are not Korean descent? Exactly how many Korean American Ivy League students are Christian… though religion does have some chance to prevent suicides, it can also encourage it, especially with those poor souls who ask, “Why is god ignoring me?”
Suffocating and perhaps unrealistic family pressure.
the dropout rate used to be highest among ethnic koreans in the ivy league according to a ucla sociologist working on this issue. the adjustment to self-managed time management was pointed to as the main reason.
At 60%, I think we can safely say this issue crosses over non-secular bounds. I have yet to identify any of my students as fundamentalist, but I find it hard to believe that statistics are that far off kilter in my classes. I would say that the pressure on these kids is fairly non-denominational. I would include an attitude that psychological difficulties are predominantly treated as a lack of mental fortitude.
I might also theorize that with a culture so fearful of loneliness, the grim prospect of continued isolation in a strange land may come into play.
#3: I have a friend who told me, “I can’t see a counsellor: I’m a believer! Jesus will heal me.”
I answered, “So go see a Christian counsellor.”
She didn’t.
But you know, whether it’s Christian, Buddhist, Moonie or Scientologist, if somebody’s out there helping these students adjust and keep their heads above water, I’m for it.
I think Dr. Kim’s heart is filled with good intentions. It’s unfortunate though, that her missionary statement on the MSG website makes the endeavor seem like an evangelical recruitment drive.
If she chooses to focus on a particular subset of Korean-American students, that’s her prerogative. I just hope no one, especially those who are emotionally vulnerable, ever feels like they are being coerced.
@ #6:
If you are referring to classes in Korea, I would be of the opinion that: a) there are relatively fewer fundamentalists in the native Christian community, and b) that they also don’t express it as much, given the plurality of religious beliefs here (in Korea.)
Also, I agree with your characterization of immigrants who, in a foreign land, may need to join a religious group. Perhaps it is for networking reasons, or for spiritual support. Whatever the reason, I would venture that sometimes they fall in to groups whose views are quite extreme.
This is a good example of the misuse of statistics. It’s implied that Korean and Korean-American students must be many times more stressed than other American students to account for 60% of the total. But this leaves out all important cultural factors which influence the decision to commit suicide. Some in Korea view suicide as honorable - consider the Hyundai founder Chung’s son who jumped out the window. There’s a tradition in Korea and Japan for losers of political or other battles to kill themselves. You don’t find that view of honorable suicide in the US. So, here’s a better comparison - how about the suicide rate among elite Korean students in Korea vs. elite Korean and Korean/American students in the US. If the US total is any higher - they have a point. If not, then the story is one of cultural views of suicide, and not the stresses of acclimating to a new culture, as they claim.
I think Marmot should be charging pawi for this mental health service.
By the way, I’m in Kangseo-Gu, Seoul, not France - why is my flag always French? How can I get the right flag back?
@ #11:
Is your computer French? People thought I was in Australia, but it was just one my cousin had bought there and brought back to Korea.
It’s not French that I know of - actually when I used this computer at my previous residence in Seoul I had a Korean flag, but after moving to Kangseo-Gu, I’m French - kind of strange.
#12,
Stop using a proxy…whoops.
@#8:
I agree. The JoongAng article vaguely identified Mustard Seed as a non-profit organization and made no mention of its strongly evangelical Christian nature. I felt a little misled when I googled the website and found by reading the mission statement and other pages that the main objective of the organization seems to be Christian proselytization.
Suicide is seen as honorable, but this is more of a motivating factor for middle-aged Koreans and Japanese than for young people. Young Americans of all ethnic groups commit suicide for a number of reasons, including pressure to succeed, which is stronger among Koreans and some other Asian ethnic groups.
I always found the circumstances of the Chung Mong-hun’s suicide a little strange anyway. He’d already done jail time after his father’s failed presidential campaign, and most Koreans weren’t bothered by the possibility that the summit was bought with bribes, so where was the intense shame that would drive a man to suicide?
It’s very shameful for Koreans to admit they have mental health problems.
For many Koreans they drink to feel better. Alcohol is seen as a way to ease stress and ease whatever ails them. Alcohol is a depressant and a drug, although Koreans will strongly deny this that.
Take these factors and some other factors, plus the fact that they tell themselves every day that they are victims and presto.
Figure out the rest for yourselves.
I have a better idea JohnT… why don’t you take your racial stereotypes and shoove them up your arse…
http://www.peele.net/blog/080126.html
hummm… but let’s not go there.
I’m curious as to what these studies she mentions are and what their durations were.
Let us imagine there are 200,000 Ivy League students of which 20,000 are Korean and 5 students commit suicide in 2007 of which 3 are ethnically Korean. That’s 10% Koreans in Ivy League, 60% of suicides committed by Koreans. But then the quote has conveniently failed to mention that the suicide rate is less alarming than fatality rates from car accidents and also that the data was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions.
It’d have been more impressive if she’d said that of 30 most recent Ivy League suicides 18 were committed by ethnic Koreans.
And instead of turning them to religion, maybe it’d be more effective to convince stressed out Ivy League students that they can always transfer to another school or quit altogether.