The shocking suicide by a 15-year-old boy from Mulgao, Bicholim not only exposes the chinks in the armoury of our education system which create such pressure
situations, but also raises serious questions on the way non-performing and hostile students are being
handled. With increasing cases of students going into depression or developing suicidal tendencies, the role of counselors in schools, teachers and parents need to be reassessed and brought into focus.
The 10th standard student whose mobile was confiscated by parents due to his poor academic performance ended his life by getting wrapped in wires and electrocuting himself on Tuesday morning. It is learnt that the boy on one hand was reprimanded by his parents for his poor performance, while on the other, desperately wanted his mobile phone back and threatened of a drastic step which the parents ignored.
In September, a 21-year-old student of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani committed suicide in his hostel room, in Zuarinagar. The boy, who hails from Hyderabad, was a fourth year computer science student at BITS Pilani.
Suicides may be impulsive decisions or long thought-out ones, but the remedy lies in counselling and better parenting. There is an urgent need to create awareness of better counselling in schools and colleges. Predominately, there is a lot of reluctance from parents and teachers to send students for counselling sessions for fear that their shortcomings will be exposed.
For now, the role of counsellors is limited to a few schools and is entirely superficial. Most of the counsellors have not been able to do justice to their jobs and are more interested in giving their reports to Goa Education Development Corporation, based on which they are evaluated.
The need of the hour is for counsellors to be fully engaged with students to help them better deal with their issues. These professionals should be backed with an action team involving child psychiatrists, social workers, police officers and PTA representatives. When the child in found in trauma and in need of attention, this team should swing into action. Professional help is required not only in cases of failure in exams, but also for students affected with stressed family background, frustration, helplessness, unrealistic goals set by teachers and parents, non-cooperating teachers or even substance abuse.
Parents too have a bigger responsibility at hand and need to take sessions on effective parenting. There are some lessons that need to be taught at home and not in schools. Children have been proud owners of smartphones and high-powered bikes, thanks to their parents, and this has been the turning point for many a student. There is also a need for better parental support and emotional understanding. Instead of taking the harsh route and setting very high goals for their wards, parents should act more like mentors in times of distress and contribute positively to help them come out of situations.
Subjects like mental health and meditation should form part of the school curriculum. This is a bitter lesson for our legislators too. While there is valuable time lost in the legislative sessions discussing issues like bars, drugs, casinos, etc, not a single MLA has raised concerns over the rising suicidal tendencies among children. It's time to stand up for the students.
