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Taiwan's little ones singing the blues

An estimated 170,000 elementary students in Taiwan do not feel happy, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.

The Chinese-language Better Life magazine distributed a questionnaire to 1,701 fifth and sixth graders at elementary schools nationwide in March to survey whether they are happy.

The magazine received 1,387 valid replies.

According to the survey results, 9 percent of the respondents said they feel unhappy.

Based on the finding, the magazine estimated that about 170,000 schoolchildren nationwide are

unhappy.

The survey also found that among the unhappy children, 5.26 percent use violent methods, such as beating others or name-calling, to vent their rage.

Meanwhile, 12 percent said they punch dolls or throw pillows and other articles when they are unhappy and 5.81 percent said they don't know how to vent their anger.

Analyzing the survey findings, Chai Sung-lin (柴松林), chief executive of the Society Improvement Foundation, said a certain percentage of those who said they don't know what to do when they are unhappy are likely to resort to violent means because seriously violence-prone children usually do not admit their inclination.

Based on the survey, Chai estimated the number of local violence-prone schoolchildren at a high of 40,000.

"This trend is alarming," Chai said.

He added that parents , school teachers, social workers and scholars should study why young children are not happy and work out ways to improve the situation.

According to the survey, the lingering economic gloom may have an impact on children's feelings about happiness.

About 81 percent of those who responded to this year's poll said they are happy, down from last year's 84.2 percent.

The decline in the ratio of those who feel happy was especially striking in the southern part of the country, down more than 7 percent.

Chai said the phenomenon might have something to do with the high jobless rate in the region.

Major reasons cited by the respondents for their unhappiness included being scolded, domestic squabbling, lack of companionship, divorce of their parents and family financial difficulties.

Asked why they are happy, the respondents mentioned that they can play video games, have pocket money, go on vacation with their parents and lead an affluent life.

An interesting finding was that while 81 percent of respondent said they feel they are happy, only 60 percent of them think that their parents are happy.
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