South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates
in the world and in a
strange response to its growing
suicide epidemic, bizarre 'death
experience’ schools are
being set up to teach depressed pupils to
appreciate life
again by showing them what it is like to be dead.
They are made to sign fake wills, hold up their fake
obituaries, locked inside coffins and are given mock
funeral services.
Sitting between rows of coffins, with
pens and papers littering small desks,
the students listen as the head
of the center, former funeral company employee
Jeong Yong-mun, explains
that the problems we face in life are a part of life.
They are told they must accept them and try to find joy
in their sufferings or whatever they are going through.
Among the students are teenagers who cannot cope
with exam pressure in
school, parents who find
themselves bored or useless after their
children have left
home, and the elderly terrified of being a
financially
burden on their young families.
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