Students' ‘life worth living' sense hit record low since 2017: survey

A survey on children's happiness and life education found a significant increase in campus bullying among senior primary and junior secondary students while their sense of "life worth living" has fallen to its lowest level since 2017.

The survey was jointly conducted by Lingnan University, the University of Hong Kong, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, interviewing over 1,500 senior primary students, 2,000 high school students, and 150 teachers.

The findings reveal a decline in the index on students' sense of life value, which fell to 6.74 this year, marking the lowest level after recording 7.27 in 2017.

Meanwhile, the index reflecting the number of students not being bullied by their peers dropped by 2.75 percent compared to last year, which sees a stark decline at 5.21 percent and 4.02 percent in Primary 5 and Primary 6, respectively. 

One-quarter of the surveyed students reported experiencing verbal and physical bullying in the past year.

The research team noted that bullying, especially verbal abuse, can significantly undermine students' sense of life value and recommended that schools enhance LIFE education as it significantly benefits happiness and a student's sense of self-worth, while also associated with less bullying. 

The findings suggest students under a lot of study pressure are more likely to be bullied, while LIFE education tends to reduce the effects.