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Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Rising suicide by students sets alarm bells ringing
Psychiatrists say students are increasingly succumbing to rising parental expectations and increased peer pressure
Gopika Jadeja/Mona Jain/Maulik Buch/Roxy Gagdekar. Rajkot/Surat/Vadodara/Ahmedabad
With board examinations scheduled to start from March 10, the pressure to do well has started taking its toll on examinees. Five students have already committed suicide even before the exams have started, while another tried to kill himself. Education experts and psychologists are alarmed over preparing examinees committing suicides as suicides normally occur after the examinations or after the results are declared. Iti Shukla, clinical psychologist at Delhi Public School, is also worried by the rising incidence of suicide among examinees. "Parental expectations and peer pressure make students nervous before the examinations," said Shukla. "Since there is no communication with peers on the issue and there is little counselling worth the name, they resort to the escape route offered by suicide. Parents should lend a helping hand and be more supportive of their children during examinations."Two examinees from Ahmedabad, two from Rajkot and one from Surat killed themselves recently. Counsellors are afraid if the schools do not step in to help students, the number of suicides may go up. In Rajkot, Anand Tank, a Class 10 student from Gondal, hanged himself to death in October, leaving a note saying he was afraid of doing badly in the board examinations. On January 29, class 12 student, Ayushi Joshi of Nirmala Convent School for Girls, committed suicide. In Ahmedabad, class 12 arts student, Jagruti Solanki, killed herself on February 8 when she did not perform well in her preliminary school exams. Another class 12 student, Tushar Bhavsar, of Shreejee Vidhayalay committed suicide by hanging at his residence in Vimalnath Society in Bapunagar. His relatives told DNA that he had been very tense about his board exams. In Surat, Nikunj Lukhi, a class 12 student of P P Savani School, committed suicide on February 8 by hanging himself at his home. Nikunj was scared of failing in the exams. Priyanka Solanki, a class 10 student of Sarvodaya High School, attempted suicide by consuming pills. She was scared of appearing in the examinations. "Loss of appetite, sleeplessness, pessimistic talk and a marked change in behaviour are symptoms of depression. Parents should watch for these symptoms in their children," said Mukul Choksi, a well-known Surat psychiatrist. "Students need sympathetic attention during examinations. Parents should support their children and understand their problems and, what is particularly important, never run them down in comparison with other children." More than 10 lakh students are appearing at the Class 10 and 12 examinations scheduled to begin in March. This includes 6.96 lakh appearing at the SSC examination while around 4 lakh are to appear at the HSC examination.
Daily News & Analysis
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Rising suicide by students sets alarm bells ringing
Psychiatrists say students are increasingly succumbing to rising parental expectations and increased peer pressure
Gopika Jadeja/Mona Jain/Maulik Buch/Roxy Gagdekar. Rajkot/Surat/Vadodara/Ahmedabad
With board examinations scheduled to start from March 10, the pressure to do well has started taking its toll on examinees. Five students have already committed suicide even before the exams have started, while another tried to kill himself. Education experts and psychologists are alarmed over preparing examinees committing suicides as suicides normally occur after the examinations or after the results are declared. Iti Shukla, clinical psychologist at Delhi Public School, is also worried by the rising incidence of suicide among examinees. "Parental expectations and peer pressure make students nervous before the examinations," said Shukla. "Since there is no communication with peers on the issue and there is little counselling worth the name, they resort to the escape route offered by suicide. Parents should lend a helping hand and be more supportive of their children during examinations."Two examinees from Ahmedabad, two from Rajkot and one from Surat killed themselves recently. Counsellors are afraid if the schools do not step in to help students, the number of suicides may go up. In Rajkot, Anand Tank, a Class 10 student from Gondal, hanged himself to death in October, leaving a note saying he was afraid of doing badly in the board examinations. On January 29, class 12 student, Ayushi Joshi of Nirmala Convent School for Girls, committed suicide. In Ahmedabad, class 12 arts student, Jagruti Solanki, killed herself on February 8 when she did not perform well in her preliminary school exams. Another class 12 student, Tushar Bhavsar, of Shreejee Vidhayalay committed suicide by hanging at his residence in Vimalnath Society in Bapunagar. His relatives told DNA that he had been very tense about his board exams. In Surat, Nikunj Lukhi, a class 12 student of P P Savani School, committed suicide on February 8 by hanging himself at his home. Nikunj was scared of failing in the exams. Priyanka Solanki, a class 10 student of Sarvodaya High School, attempted suicide by consuming pills. She was scared of appearing in the examinations. "Loss of appetite, sleeplessness, pessimistic talk and a marked change in behaviour are symptoms of depression. Parents should watch for these symptoms in their children," said Mukul Choksi, a well-known Surat psychiatrist. "Students need sympathetic attention during examinations. Parents should support their children and understand their problems and, what is particularly important, never run them down in comparison with other children." More than 10 lakh students are appearing at the Class 10 and 12 examinations scheduled to begin in March. This includes 6.96 lakh appearing at the SSC examination while around 4 lakh are to appear at the HSC examination.
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