Today is May 5th, a national holiday in Korea,
Happy Children’s Day. As a father who raised two children and a teacher for 35
years, it's a very important day for me recognizing and celebrating all the
children.
I decided to walk about 6-7 miles, carrying a golf bag on my shoulders on the streets of
Seoul. Why walk that kind of distance with a golf
bag? The answer is simple, for children, our future.
There is a famous saying that I have often said to my
students, “Words may inspire, but only
action creates change.” Today, I decided to, in my own personal way, do
something about a very serious and important issue, not only here in Korea, but
in the US as well. I am talking about student suicides and student mental
health.
Last week, I read an article in Korea Times about a study that just came out. It stated, that
last year, 1 out of 3 middle and
high school students in Korea thought about suicide, which is a staggering
figure and shocking news. I believe in the US for teenagers, suicide ideation
is around 17-18% so much less than here in Korea, but still too high. In the
article, it said that the two major reasons were academic stress and anxiety
about the future and career path.
For many years, Korea has ranked very high in the suicide rate for all age groups, which is a sad story in itself; however, for
young adults, it is the number one cause of death in Korea. I know in the US
the suicide rate and mental health is a serious issue as well, especially
recently due to the ongoing pandemic.
Personally, when I read this article it brought back painful and sad
memories for me. I’ve been a teacher and school principal for over
thirty years in both New York and Korea and four years ago, my last year as a
high school principal before I retired, I attended five funerals of young
adults, all my former students. It was one of the most difficult school years
for me as an educator. And recently, only a few weeks ago, I received news of
another former student in New York passing away at a young age.
I realize suicide and mental health is uncomfortable
topic for many people and in many cultures. And I know there is a shame and stigma
attached to the topic, especially here in Korea; therefore, it does not get discussed a whole lot in the
media, at least not out in public. For example, that article did not get any
major newspaper or TV coverage at all. I think this is so true, especially here
in Korea, but with one of the highest rates of suicides in the world, that
should not be.
I believe we need to get rid of the stigma and talk
about it, bringing this serious issue out in the minds of people so that we can
start to deal with it in a constructive way. And we need help from everyone -
the schools, parents, teachers, mental health experts, politicians, and media
to turn around this sad statistic.
So that’s the background information about WHY. Now, let me tell you what I did. Well, a few months
ago I came across a famous golf pro, Rick Shiels, in England that gives YouTube
video golf lessons. He decided to do a fundraiser to bring awareness to mental
health in his country called, “Walk 18 for Mental Health.”
Back in February when the UK was under COVID-19 lockdown, he
heard about the rise in mental health issues due to the fact that people were
not able to socialize like in the past. So in his own way, he did something
about it, something positive. I am from America where golf culture is very
different than here in Korea. Unlike in Korea, you just join up with a stranger
(White, Black, Asian, white-collar, blue-collar, etc.) at the course and you
enjoy 4-5 hours of golf walking and talking about work, family, life, and many
other topics. Perhaps that social interaction is why I am so passionate about
it and love to play golf. Because golf courses are accessible to everyone, you can
play at a public course for about 20-30 dollars in many cases carrying your
golf bag. I must have played over a thousand rounds of golf in the US in my
lifetime and most of the time carrying my golf bag like what I did today.
Anyway, that golf pro in England decided to walk
carrying his golf bag about 6-7 miles each day,
which is the approximate length of 18 holes of golf so that’s where ‘Walk 18’
comes from. He did this for the entire month of February, 28 days, around his
hometown. His goal was to raise £10,000, but he raised close to £50,000.
($70,000) for a charity that helps people struggling with mental health, which
was amazing. Again for me, it is not to raise money but if you feel the need to
support your local or national mental health organizations, please do so.
My reason for doing this as I said is to bring awareness
to the issue of student suicide and mental health. I created this T-shirt with
the logo, “Walk 18 for Student Mental Health.” It also says, “It’s okay not to be okay,” which is
the saying that is widely used in the US when mental health professionals talk
about this very important issue. Basically, it means it’s okay to say that
you’re not okay. Expressing your emotions is never a bad thing, and if you’re
not okay, it’s okay to say so to someone - to your parents, your brother or
sister, your friend, your teacher, whoever.
Another thing that you may have noticed on my t-shirt is
the symbol of the semicolon(;). I know in Korean writing this punctuation is not
used; but in English, it is used when the writer rather than ending a sentence,
decide to continue. It represents hope that your story isn’t over yet. It also
represents courage to the ones who decide to fight instead of ending it all.
So today as we recognize Children’s Day in Korea, I
thought to myself, it’s a perfect day for me to be doing this in
celebration of all the children who are our hopes and dreams for a better
future world. Obviously, I got some attention from people since seeing a
person walking and carrying a golf bag is not something you will witness on the
streets of Seoul every day or any day for that matter. Hopefully, some noticed the t-shirt with an important message on it and think about the issue of student mental health.
If nothing else, at least I got a solid 7-mile walking exercise today, which they say is
very good for your mental health. So with that being said, this is my Day 1 ‘Walk 18 for
Student Mental Health.’ Not sure if I can match Rick Shiels’ 28 days, he is
much younger than me, but I will do my best. I want to finish by saying a
quote, from one of my favorite movies of all time, Dead Poets Society, by Robin Williams, Carpe Diem! It means Seize
the Day, which also means embrace the moment and live your life to the fullest.
I just want to say to students, you are all very
precious gifts and I love you all.
Walk 18 for Students (학생 정신건강을 위한 걷기)
