A series of unfortunate events engulfed the southern state of Tamil Nadu over the past two weeks. Ranked fourth in the country for its suicide rates, the state has been warned about the quality of student lives and the dire need for mental health awareness. However, doesn’t the essential quality of humanity appeal to hearts beyond state or district boundaries? Five lives resonate with the unspoken voices of millions of students across the country. What are they trying to say?
Understanding Suicidal Tendencies in Teenage
Marked by uncertainties and a period of confusion, adolescent behaviours are aggravated by the constant thought of alienation despite their growing social circles. Particularly within their homes, they are sometimes driven by the notion that they are different and unique in their thoughts, making it seem like they cannot share or reach out to their parents. Suicide or any self-harming tendency is how the human mind attempts to control behaviour when unprecedented events in life make it seem like everything else is beyond control. It is driven by a need to navigate the course of their life. Therefore, parents must be on the lookout for harmful behaviours, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies when there is any uncontrollable element in the child’s life.
Academic Stress and Parental Pressure
A significant conclusion drawn from the case investigation of the 5 student suicides in Tamil Nadu reveals the shared association between educational institutes and academic demands on the student. The government authorities have come to realize how the post-covid academic scenario has put expectancies on the students to adapt to the maximum effort needed coming back to school without having sufficient mechanisms to ease their stress and anxiety. Both the staff and the students have undergone massive changes in the structure of their methods which leads to a problem of adaptability.
During such a case, parents need to understand their difficulties in an empathetic atmosphere and support their educational concerns. A long-standing mistake among many Indian communities is parental pressure during stream selection for higher secondary education. Students should be allowed to choose the subject of their interest with an accurate appraisal of their aptitude for the same. Intelligence persists in every student through different pathways, as supported by Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Academic stress can significantly be reduced if students find passion in learning, motivated intrinsically rather than being forced by external pressure.
Copycat Suicide and Dangers of Media
A major psychological phenomenon is working backstage with the troubles of the student community, particularly among the middle and lower class population of students with access to media. Copycat suicide is explained by social learning theory where an individual imitates the suicide they are exposed to through media or personal sources. The students tend to relate to the act of suicide and the personal life of the student and see it as a possible alternative to their trouble. The negative impact of sensational media that does not acknowledge the trauma caused by a suicide news report is a possible cause of the 5 immediate deaths in the state. Parents need to appropriately monitor child’s exposure to sensitive pieces of information and government institutions can take up the responsibility to educate children on resilient behavioural patterns, with appropriate awareness programs and train them in healthy media engagement.
Reference
Explainers, F. P. (2022, July 27). Fifth teen death in one month: What is driving Tamil Nadu students to suicide? Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/india/fifth-teen-death-in-one-month-what-is-driving-tamil-nadu-students-to-suicide-10962901.html
Nath, A. (2022, July 28). 5 student suicides in 2 weeks: What’s causing teen deaths in Tamil Nadu? India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/tamil-nadu-student-suicides-what-is-causing-teen-deaths-expert-weigh-in-1981147-2022-07-28