This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the perceptions and patterns of emotional expression among 186 high school students in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and reveal the necessity of education on the social construction of emotion. The results showed that students perceive emotional expressions as mainly limited to negative emotions. They avoid expressing emotions due to complex factors such as psychological burden, reluctance toward self-disclosure, and low emotional expression self-efficacy (internal dimension), as well as relationship conflict, lack of empathy, and perception of burdening others (external dimension). Regarding speech patterns, a distinct discrepancy was observed: while student recognized emotions through concrete vocabulary, their actual speech relied on condensed expressions such as interjections, profanity, and slang. Speech types were categorized into three positive and five types negative situations, showing a clear difference in how emotions are processed between the two. Specifically, the absence of “I-messages”—which convey emotions while maintaining relationships in conflict situations—indicates that practical training in emotional expression skills is not adequately provided in speech education. These results suggest that beyond emotional vocabulary education, a need arises to systematically design education for the social construction of emotions. This involves constructing and expressing emotions using language within relational and social contexts.