Bhubaneswar: Students always play a pivotal role in the development of a country and loss of students’ lives adversely affects the growth of the country or a state. However, Odisha losing 1,469 precious lives of the youngsters has emerged as a cause for concern.
It’s ironical that Odisha has recently witnessed a spurt in student suicide cases amidst the novel coronavirus induced pandemic. With 1,469 student suicide cases, the state recorded a 387.59 per cent rise in such cases in 2020 as compared to the previous year. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on ‘Accidental Death and Suicides in India’, Odisha holds the second spot in student suicide cases in the country. As many as 379 students of the state ended their lives in 2019.
A perusal of previous year’s reports indicated a mercurial growth in the number of student suicides in Odisha.
It’s significant to note here that such cases always remained around 400 during the last 20 years, barring 2018, when the number of suicides committed by students rose to 501 in the state.
It seems the parents and students in the state failed miserably to cope with the disruption in the psycho-social ecosystem caused by the pandemic in 2020.
Speaking to Orissa POST, noted psychologist, Prof Haresh Mishra said, “Students passing through the adolescent phase of life are always more vulnerable to mental health issues, particularly to depression. Disengagement, lack of fulfilling academic targets, threatened goal perception, immediate financial constraints of the family, and troubled family and personal relationships, all arising from Covid pandemic, have augmented emotional crisis among students.”
About the reasons behind substantially higher student suicides in Odisha, Mishra said, “It may be that parents are not adequately sensitive to handle such issues of students because of their lack of awareness about mental health issues.”
“Suspension of classes in schools for such a long period pushed the students into depression. Similarly, everyone turned to online studies during Covid-induced lockdowns and shutdowns. Due to lack of awareness among students about online safety, they became addicted to online games, objectionable sites and others stuffs on the internet. When parents tried to prevent them, they got agitated and took drastic steps. The government should immediately take steps to reopen schools and initiate awareness programmes in schools and colleges about online safety and mental health,” child rights activist Benudhar Senapati said.
Gyan Ranjan Mohapatra, OP