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Repeated incidents of student suicide: Stress management should be taught

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Mangaluru: It is unbelievable that five students committed suicide in a span of 18 days in the Dakshina Kannada district. This begs the question if the educational hub of Karnataka is turning into a cauldron of emotionally disturbed youth.

An 18-year-old girl student of Alva’s College Moodbidri committed suicide in her hostel room on September 12. She was a very talented girl and she had secured 95% marks in her first year PUC examination. It is said that she was disappointed after NEET examination as she did not secure good marks.

In another incident, a 17-year-old college girl Jeevitha hanged herself at her hostel room, located at Narimogaru in Puttur taluk on September 24. It is said that Jeevitha had taken two additional days of leave after Ganesha Chathurthi holidays, for which the college demanded in writing the reason. This led the young girl to end life, it is said.

Another student pursuing dentistry at KVG Dental College in Sullia, Neha A Thomas (22) committed suicide at a rented house on September 26. After three days of this incident, 20-year-old B.E student Sharath Babu from Bengaluru committed suicide in his rented room near Srinivas engineering college in Valachil on September 29. A friendship with a girl said is said to be the reason for his suicide. On the very next day, a 17-year-old student of Expert College in Mangaluru city Nevil Fernandes committed suicide at his residence in Urwa on September 30, leaving behind a death note confirming the cause of his death. The reason behind his extreme step is said to be an embarrassment he faced at the hands of the college administration.

It is very common in the recent days that college students commit suicide for a silly reason. The above mentioned five suicide cases in a short span of just 18 days are enough to shed light on the inability of students to cope up with stress and disappointments. Though there may be different reasons for their action, it does not mean that it can not be prevented. If the parents, teachers and school administration take proper measures to prevent this, it can be averted, feel many.

The education experts, psychiatrists, mental health professional among others opine that students do not have the stress management skills, which is the only reason why they give up so easily.

They say that students should be aware of how to adjust to the changing circumstances, how to deal with the problems, what measures to take to rectify the problems etc.

However, it is to be noted that most of the educational institutions are not adhering to the guidelines of the government, which plays a vital role in preventing students from taking extreme steps.

Child protection committee should be formed in every education institution: CWC

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has framed child protection policy, in which it has mandated every educational institution to form a child protection committee. As per the guidelines, this child protection committee should conduct a meeting every month. If a particular student has some personal problems then it should be addressed by the counsellors. However, most of the educational institutions do not have a child protection committee, which leads to various problems including students’ suicide.

Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairperson Renny D’Souza when contacted told Newskarnataka that the CWC would direct the school managements to form a committee and adhere to the guidelines. If the managements do not pay heed to the words, the CWC would complain to the office of the Karnataka State Commissioner for Protection of Child Rights, he cautioned.

Counselling is the only solution- Dr Ravish Thunga

Psychiatric Dr Raveesh Thunga when contacted told Newskarnataka that during the adolescent age, the thinking capacity is very less in children, which makes them do something as drastic as even ending life.

“As they do not analyse the problems and its solutions, they jump into a sudden decision. When the demands of the children are not fulfilled, they slip into depression, which forces them to commit suicide. Adjustment in life is very necessary and there should be patience. Counselling is the only solution, which can save such students from taking the extreme step,” he says.

Identify the depression among the children at an early stage – Mental health professional Dr. Rameela Shekhar

Mental health professional Rameela Shekhar says that there are multiple factors which force the students to commit suicide. “Some triggering factors like loneliness, feeling like abandoned by all, poor financial background, the detached relationship among others also plays an important role in suicide. As teachers and parents always deal with the students, they should be aware of some important tips on handling the students, which may bring a ray of hope among the depressed students. If a student slips into depression, he should be identified at an early stage, which helps to bring some positive change in his mind and prevent him from taking extreme step,” she says.

Suicide Helpline No: 0824-2983444

In order to prevent people from committing suicides, a suicide helpline has been set up on October 2, 2017. Before starting this helpline, a total of 1026 students were surveyed, in which it was revealed that 8 % of the students have attempted to commit suicide. The survey also revealed that around 7% of the students slip into depression occasionally and thoughts of suicide too, cross their minds. After considering the survey report, suicide helpline was formed. The co-founder of suicide helpline Dr. Lavinha Noronha says that trained volunteers would be at the suicide helpline who would give suggestions to the callers round the clock.
All in all the suicide cases that shook the district of the intellectuals now calls for some sincere actions so that the district has vibrant youth who have nothing to fear in life as they take on the competitive world.

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Ganesh Mavanji

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