The fear factor

These are times of hope and anxiety for the students as the results of various public examination are coming out one after another. Unfortunately, for those who haven’t scored the marks they hoped to, handling the results can be stressful. Not just that, in many cases, parents are found to be more anxious than the students themselves. In such a scenario, students and parents share their concerns and how they hope to deal with the results. 

Students like Akhila S, who is awaiting her PUC results (Science), is nervous about the options ahead. “More than me, my parents are nervous about my results, which is getting me tensed. I spoke to my college counsellor about the available options and I think things will be fine,” she says. Akhila’s mother, Ramya, says that she’s worried that her daughter will be left behind in the rat race if her grades aren’t upto the mark. “These marks decide a lot about the future.”

Authorities of educational institutions also say that they have been getting calls from anxious students and parents about when the results will be out. H Nalini Lawrence, vice-principal of Clarence High School, says that she has been receiving  distress calls from students. “We’ve been telling them to stay calm. Their concerns vary from what their scores will be to where they get admission.”

Counsellors and helplines have also been receiving distress calls during the past weeks. Rani Shetty, coordinator of Makkala Sahaya Vani, says that the organisation has been doing regular programmes with schools. “We have been taking psychiatrists to schools and talking about stress management. There have been calls from students who were there at the programmes and we give them solutions on how to cope with the stress. There were some calls when the SSLC results came out. The students expect us to talk to their parents also sometimes,” she says.

Other professionals like Tasneem Nakhoda, a psychotherapist, says that both students and parents have been calling her and seeking counselling during the past month.

   “I got around 12 to 13 calls in the past few weeks. It is much higher compared to last year. There could be many factors which contribute to this though,” she says. Tasneem says that it is mostly parents who get more anxious than the students. “The ratio of parents calling is much more than the students. I have received just five calls from students, till now.”

She says that the situation is different for different callers. “The exam pressure comes from many factors — pressure from the school, self-inflicted stress and due to parents. Since the factors are different in different cases, they are handled differently.” She adds that when parents call, she tries to sort out certain things like what they expect from their children and what the different options are for the students. Often parents compare their wards with other students and this is something the counsellor deals with. “Once they know that the child has more options, they tend to feel better,” she says.

There are also other ways students deal with exam results. Nikhilesh Mohanty, a student who’s awaiting his class 10 CBSE results, says that he isn’t stressed about it. “The examinations are over and I know that being stress will not change the results. But whenever I feel a bit nervous or anxious, I just hang out with friends,” he says.

Kunal S, a 12th standard student of DPS South (Commerce), says that he reads when he wants to relax. “I also play sports or video games.” He is positive about getting high grades. “I know that I have done well and will be able to manage the cut-off marks that I need for the course I want,” he says.