Amid reports of “collective self-injury” among students at a high school in Nantou County, an urgent investigation yesterday showed that nine students were found to have harmed themselves either because of stress, emotional factors or personal enjoyment.
Reports started spreading after a parent of one of the school’s students informed electronic media there was “collective self-injury” going on at the school involving as many as 100 students.
Yesterday morning, a large crowd of reporters turned up at the school to investigate the story and interview students. Shocked by the burst of media interest, the school’s principal asked teachers and counselors to investigate the matter.
The investigation determined that these were sporadic incidents as opposed to group behavior.
The principal said there were substantial differences between the rumors and the facts. The principal said nine students at the school were found to have scratched their hands or arms with craft knives during the past year, but these were individual and unconnected cases, rather than a collective activity.
The principal said the nine students who had harmed themselves included four first-year, three second-year and two third-year students.
The investigation showed that their reasons for hurting themselves included stress from coursework, family issues and emotional factors, although the four first-year students said they had done it just for fun or “because they were bored.”
The principal said that after each case was discovered, teachers and counselors were assigned to help the students involved.
In a case that was known about prior to the investigation, one of the students had fallen into the habit of self-mutilation — scratching her arms with a knife when she became stressed. Since her problem was rather serious, she was sent to see specialists at a hospital for treatment, which lasted more than a month. She has since managed to control her behavior.
The principal said the teachers and counselors adopted a sympathetic approach and sought to help the students deal with their problems, while at the same time encouraging them to respect their bodies and their lives.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS