The number of elementary, junior high, and high school students who commit suicide in 2023 is expected to be 507, the second highest on record, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will use the terminals distributed to each student for counseling and health monitoring. A message was sent to the whole country to make efforts to identify children with such problems as early as possible.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of students who committed suicide in 2023 is tentatively 507, with 342
high school students, 12 fewer than the previous year,
and 152 junior high school students, 9 more.
▽There were 13 elementary school students, four fewer.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology notified boards of education nationwide on the 27th to take preventive measures, as the confirmed number of cases is expected to be the second highest after 2022, when the highest number ever occurred in 2022.
The notice states, ``The situation is as high and extremely worrying as it was a year ago,'' and an analysis of the cases in 2022 shows that many cases appear to be related to poor academic performance or worries about entrance exams.
Furthermore, the number of students tends to increase after the long holidays, and in March there are many students who are unsure of their career path, so they called for careful career guidance and monitoring activities.
In addition, tablet devices, which are provided to each elementary and junior high school student, are actively used for consultations and health monitoring, in an effort to identify children with worries and difficulties at an early stage. We are calling on people to cooperate with parents and medical institutions to deal with the situation without burdening them with it.