The Rise of Student Suicides in India — an epidemic?
Two periods in a student’s life prove crucial to them and the people they surround — examinations and results. Right from the beginning, parents and teachers play a part in putting students under tremendous pressure of performing well in academics and in entrance examinations — in order for their future to get better — so much so they often forget the internal battles and challenges that the students fight almost every day to live up to those expectations.
The fear of not getting through IITs made me work hard during my 11th and 12th class; my anxiety hit the peak which is when I decided to change my steam altogether than succumbing to the pressure. But, how many students have had the same privilege?
This is the time of the year when results of the board and entrance examinations are announced, deciding the fate of millions of students. This has been around for decades. But the millennials are ubiquitously facing problems coping with the burden. In this blog, we will try to put across a few reasons that we learned, which make things difficult for the students.
As many as 9,474 students committed suicide in 2016, which implies that almost 26 students died every day. That’s almost one student every hour; how devastating is this figure!?
The magnitude of stress parents and society put on the students which leads them to give up and taking their lives is an undeclared emergency in the country.
Data by the N.C.R.B. shows an increase in student suicide rates by 240% in the last decade.
One of the major names that come up when we talk of entrance exams is of ‘Kota’, a city in Rajasthan known for coaching students rigorously with punishing schedules with one aim — academic glory and excellence. In interviews conducted by BBC and CNN, students reveal that their interests lie in fashion designing, dancing, music, etcetera; yet they spend months or years away from home, in Kota, and study for as many as fourteen hours every day hoping for a bright future.
Can we figure the reasons out?
Looking at the data, interacting with students, and listening to interviews and perception of various field experts, we can say that there is more than one reason behind students taking up such destructive measures.
Elders’ Expectations:
A significant number of students admit that they study because their parents and teachers have made them feel that cracking these entrance or board examinations is the only way they can become successful in their respective lives. A lot of these students express their wish to study humanities and are explicitly mentioning that these examination preparations are in no way taking them where they want to be.
As parents, elder siblings, and educators, it becomes our prime duty to encourage students to follow any career path they want. It is rather apparent that a government job or passing out of IIT would promise a more certain and secure career; but let’s face it, there are millions of applicants against only 23 IITs. The changes of someone getting through an IIT when he or she isn’t even interested in doing it is slim.
When parents of the students who had committed suicides out of exam pressure and stress said in interviews they had only little idea about what was going on in their child’s mind. This indicates a huge communication gap in the parents wanting to be empathetic with their child/children.
Deteriorating Mental Health:
India is the most depressed country, and the students’ pressure is only a testimony to why we rank so high in the mental health domain. According to a report, the country spends 0.06% of the total budget on mental health — which is not a very pleasant number, in my opinion. Students cannot handle pressure or seeking aid when they feel depressed or anxious and lose focus and attention.
I work as an author at an educational research wing;I remember suggesting the administration about introducing one module on mental health for the eighth grade. They turned me down by saying that students are too young to understand the concept of mental health. If this is the case of a company that deals in removing disparity in education, what can one possibly expect out of others?
Our lack of understanding of mental health and its direct link to student suicide is very harmful to our youth, which is an urgent call for action for all the educators, educational institutions, and teacher trainers.
If you want to torture students to study well so they can make your institute and its performance looks well, might as well teach them how to cope with the pressure?
Social Media:
The main culprit behind emotional and mental disturbances and living up to societal expectations is the advent and the growing obsession with social media. How will I look in front of my parents and now, with social media, how will I look in front of peers is another reason students feel immensely in turmoil. The need for social acceptance and virtual validation is unforgiving and has made the entire situation no less than a virtual pressure cooker.
Hence, in this age and time students are more vulnerable and susceptible to emotional disturbances and mental instability.
Someone I know of, who apparently owns a chain of schools, puts up stories and posts on Instagram the very day results are announced, praising the outstanding students with pride and not even acknowledging the rest of the class. Put yourself in this situation — you have not scored as you expected and are already upset and disturbed thinking about how you’ll confront your family and relatives (because they are an integral part when results are announced in India). That very day — when you log on to any social media account — all you see is your principal and your facilitator praising the top scorers, portraying them as successful students with a bright future ahead of them. Can you be expected to stay calm and composed?
India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates and 25% of the total student suicides are because of failure in examinations. Is it not high time for us to realise we are losing our youth to? And how urgent is this situation?
What Can You Do?
As a parent, sibling, teacher, educator, or anyone who is directly related to a student, it is our responsibility to help him or her in this phase. Of course, whatever I tried to put across in this blog would seem like a Catch-22 situation we can play a significant part nevertheless.
1. Identify the symptoms and talk to the students.
Try to identify the symptoms of ill mental health and talk to your child or student at regular intervals, especially before exams as to how they are handling things. Help ease their anxiety by telling them that an examination will not determine their future; it helps!
2. Refer therapy to them.
Thankfully, most of the schools and coaching institutes now have a counsellor that the students can go to when in distress. However, most of them do not go. Encourage students to meet counsellors; and if possible, take them to one. It helps them cope with distress when they know someone’s there with them who understands and is willing to help. Counsellors and therapists are trained professionals who can help students fight their emotional battles.
My only request to anyone who reads this is that please understand that examination pressure is a real thing, and so is depression. Nothing justifies a student giving up to marks. Life is much more than that and the onus also lies on us to be empathetic, aware, and helpful to the country’s student populace.
