Suicides Among Children In Japan At Record High During Pandemic: Report
NDTV
At east 415 children from elementary to high school age in Japan were recorded as having taken their own lives, according to the education ministry's survey.
Child suicides in Japan are the highest they have been in more than four decades, local media have reported, citing the country's education ministry.
As the COVID-19 pandemic prompted school closings and disrupted classrooms last year, 415 children from elementary to high school age were recorded as having taken their own lives, according to the education ministry's survey.
The number is up by nearly 100 from last year, the highest since record-keeping began in 1974, the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday.
Suicide has a long history in Japan as a way of avoiding perceived shame or dishonour, and its suicide rate has long topped the Group of Seven nations, but a national effort brought numbers down by roughly 40 percent over 15 years, including 10 straight years of decline from 2009.
