Failure Might Kill

Low Academic Achievement and Adolescent Suicide in Certain Cultures

Abstract
Taking ones own life has been an issue in many countries. Although it is a phenomenon not limited to any age group, the adolescent group has been getting attention in the research field in the recent years. Being one of the significant stages of human life, different factors have been taken into consideration with regards to adolescent suicide. The vast literature of this phenomenon has been looking into low academic performance as one of its major triggers. However, researchers seem to find no concurrence upon the matter. To answer the research problem, the research proponent aims to look at cultures with high value for academic achievement as one of the key aspects that may help in clearing the effects of low academic achievement to adolescent suicide. This proposed research study will look at the successful adolescent suicide population of South Korea, being a country with an affirmed high value for academic excellence, and their academic achievement. The Psychodynamics of suicide serves as the ground for the study, including the relevance of self-esteem and depression to suicide. The proposed study will be a post-mortem study, analyzing the deaths of the given population through interviews of their parents, teachers and their academic records. It will be analyzed through content analysis of the responses and the records. This paper aims to contribute to the current body of literature on the said relationship and invite other scholars to study and help develop the study of the phenomenon.