Drinking problem

The survey covered 23,088 students from Pathom 5 up to doctorate level in all provinces across the country. It was conducted under the collaboration between the Office of the Education Council and Assumption University's Academic Network for Community Happiness Observation and Research (Anchor).

"Up to 56.7 per cent of students in the group with a grade lower than 2.00 in the previous academic semester have been drinking in the past six months," Anchor director Dr Noppadol Kannikar said yesterday.

Of all students with the below-2.00 grade, 40 per cent have reported feeling stressed and despondent.

"The risk of despair and drinking goes down as grades climb," Noppadol pointed out.

The survey showed just 33.9 per cent of those with grades between 2.00 and 3.00 were in a state of desperation, and just about 49.6 per cent of them had been drinking during the past six months.

Of those with a grade above 3.00, only 34 per cent have been drinking and only 25.7 per cent have lost hope in their lives.

If categorised by levels of education, 23.1 per cent of primary students reported feeling stressed and despondent. Despair, meanwhile, hit 35.5 per cent of vocational students and 32.7 per cent of secondary students.

Up to 63.3 per cent of vocational students, 60.6 per cent of university students, and 50.3 per cent of graduate students are drinkers.

According to the survey, the average age of drinking students is 19 years. The youngest drinker is only 10 years old. - The Nation