Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) Over 90 percent of the respondents to a survey expressed concern over Internet addiction and drug abuse among adolescents, while 76 percent thought the problem of juvenile delinquency to be serious, according to the survey released Sunday by an education foundation.

The survey on perceptions of adolescent deviant behavior showed that 97.9 percent of respondents expressed concern over drug abuse, 94.9 percent about gang participation, 90.4 percent theft, 92.2 percent Internet addiction and 90.6 percent over-reliance on smartphones among juveniles.

The survey found that 77.6 percent thought verbal bullying among teenagers on campus is serious, while 70.9 percent pointed to cyberbullying, compared with physical bullying mentioned by 61.3 percent of respondents.

When adolescents encounter setbacks associated with school, 72.5 percent of respondents believe this could cause them to experience emotional difficulties, while 59.4 percent thought long-term setbacks could result in them giving up and 58.6 percent said this could cause them to not want to attend school, according to the poll.

Regarding school-related factors that lead to juvenile delinquency, 78.3 percent pointed to the negative influence of classmates' behavior and 57 percent noted the long-term effects of learning setbacks, the poll showed.

As for the reasons adolescents self-harm, 71.4 percent thought it was caused by bad interpersonal relationships and 65.4 percent pointed to too much school stress on children.

The poll revealed that 86.7 percent of respondents thought adolescents who love to go to school due to their interest in learning tend to have fewer behavior problems, while 76.2 percent were of the view that schools should step up efforts to nurture student interest in learning.

A total of 71.6 percent indicated schools should help students develop a positive philosophy of life, and 60.3 percent thought they should teach students how to deal with negative emotions.

The poll released by the Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation was conducted July 13-15 among people aged 20 and above in 22 cities and counties around Taiwan based on telephone interviews. A total of 1,069 valid samples were collected.

The survey had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.