This research is a profile survey on the identities, thoughts, behaviors, problems and needs of the high school students studying in Istanbul, as well as their interactions with their environment. We further this survey with specific studies on problems and needs, as well as comparative research at national and international levels.
To make visible the problems and needs of the youth that we support socially, to contribute to the solutions to be produced, and to create a ground upon which future research on high school students can be built.
According to The Profile of High School Students in İstanbul:
- When Education Becomes the Goal
- High school education in Turkey predominantly targets preparing students for the university entrance exam. Therefore, every aspect of high school students’ life outside of school is focused on getting an “education” that will prepare them for the university entrance exam, hence turning education into a target rather than a tool.
- Perception of Violence among High School Youth
- More than half of the participants in the survey think that violence is prevalent among high school students, and thereby normalize violence.
- Youth Behaviours
- Youth is not an easy period without anxieties. According to the research results, participants from all types of high schools find youth as a “stressful” period in which “one cannot experience his/her youth,” but feel “intense fear and anxiety.”
- Youth and Social Problems
- Certain worries of the youth, such as not being able to achieve the type of education they want, family issues, and financial worries show that the problems that the youth face cannot be separated from wider social problems.
