Predicting Smyptoms of Students Depression in

Public Secondary Schools using Ubiquitous

Sensors and Machine Learning

Sarah Joy A. Bataller

Initial Capstone Presentation August 31, 2019

Masters in Information Technology (WVSU – Graduate School)
INTRODUCTION
• Among 8,761 students from Grades 7-9, Year 4 in
the Philippines:

11.6% among 13 to 17 year olds considered

suicide

16.8% among 13 to 17 year olds attempted suicide

• - 2015 World Health Organization Global school-

based survey
• The rise in the number of suicide cases and depression among
our students nowadays are quite high and the schools had to do
something about it to address the said problem. Students from
public schools came from different walks of life (i.e. parental
background, economic conditions and emotional background to
name a few). However, a common theme stands out:
disconnectedness and deterioration of relationships brought
about by social media and technology. Experts said that young
people today tend to be more disconnected despite the internet
supposedly opening up the world to everyone. The lack of
connectedness can often lead to a breakdown in relationships,
which are crucial in fostering good mental health. A recent 2017
study published in the Association for Psychological Science also
found that adolescents who spent more time online – such as
social media – were more likely to report mental health issues.
 Public schools as we all know mostly focus
on the academic stand in education and less
on students mental health, in which it should
be equally given attention for the fact that it
also affects how students perform or behave
in school. In every public school there is an
assigned Guidance Counselor but due to the
number of students, as one alone cannot
address all the needs of students.
The solution to a problem is the problem itself,
TECHNOLOGY. Almost 80% of the students owned
android cell phones which has accessed to the
internet and that they used 24/7. Computer have
become ubiquitous in our everyday life and we
control it but sadly, it controls us. Maybe it is about
time that the computer needs to be proactive that
contains human – centered interfaces instead of being
passive in responding only to user’s command. Being
proactive the computer interfaces must have the
ability to detect and tract the user’s behavior,
especially the affective behavior (e.g. emotional
expression, or the way he/she responds to a question
or voice intonation)
 OBJECTIVES
1. To developed a system that predict students
mental health through computer interface.
(breakdown)

2. To help public schools in maximizing the

functions of a Guidance Counselor to address
students that needs urgent attention based on
the data collected.
End