Student suicides | Let’s learn from the tragedy not to repeat it

Parenting and pedagogy must balance technology with human connection to reduce student anxiety

On November 20, a Class 10 student in Delhi committed suicide. Media reports point to him being humiliated by his teachers. In Mumbai, a college student committed suicide after he was harassed and assaulted for not speaking Marathi. The response from the school administrators in Delhi has shown how the schooling system, despite its efforts at occasional sessions by mental health experts and being sensitive, is not addressing the mental health issue.

Students across different age groups have become susceptible to anxiety, and clearly, there is something amiss in our educational setup.

A recent study, published in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry, found that nearly 70 per cent of students reported moderate to high levels of anxiety, about 60 per cent showed signs of depression, and more than 70 per cent experienced elevated distress.

A 2024 study found that nearly 18.8 per cent students considered suicide over their lifetime, and 12.4 per cent over the past year, whereas 6.7 per cent of them attempted it at some point in their lives. Looking at the schools and colleges, anxiety is endemic.

The reactions of schools following the suicide on November 20 varied, encompassing uncertainty regarding how a child might interpret any measures implemented by them to address the increasing exposure to social media, and the need for teachers to become more sensitive.

Without doubt, there are factors such as the ever-increasing alienation of students across all ages. Those who can afford electronic gadgets take recourse to them and try to find a world for themselves; they build a world for themselves. They seek refuge in the online world — where no one dictates to them. Unbeknownst to them, they become wilful participants in that virtual world.

As open spaces in cities have reduced and encroachments have become rampant, the number of children in parks has gone down; socialisation at home and within localities has also gone down. The idea of entertainment is individualised. Time spent earlier among family members and friends has now become an individual’s personal time with their personal electronic gadget, be it a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc.

A recent report says that digital platforms have surpassed television, and it is social media, video streaming, and gaming which dominate the screen time of Indians, which is around 70 per cent of the daily average of five hours they spend on their phones.

Experts point to possible misalignment of the spine among children due to excessive use of gadgets. This reflects a socialisation deficit with humans, resulting in a declining ability to interact, feel, share, and even express.

During my fieldwork (2020-2023), I have seen families living in slums held to ransom by their children for tabs or mobile phones. At times, such demands are made for academic reasons. Schools, while stressing online education, also highlight the negative side of these gadgets, but more needs to be done.

In a society where familial fragmentations are reaching new heights, the elders struggling to find centres to socialise, find refuge in online entertainment. Greater harm due to time spent on gadgets is seen in children, who are unfortunately mimicking their elders. They assume it is normal not to socialise, and instead turn to online forums and apps where virtual interactions with unknown people or fake profiles or even AI bots take place.

Students, educational institutions, and parents are currently caught in a vicious circle. While schools insist making optimum use of online resources, including app-based academic governance, use of AI tools, etc., it is naïve to expect students to diligently stick to only the prescribed apps. The online world is ever expanding and ever enticing.

We are being constantly told to keep abreast with newer technologies as education and the world of work become inconceivable without them. Identification of brilliance and smartness rests with how well one can exploit the endless possibilities that the online world has to offer.

The ethics and morals surrounding the use of technologies are hardly talked about. There is hardly any talk about artificial intelligence and human rights (which includes child rights) in South Asia when international agencies have been talking about it for some time. The viciousness of how our emotional, ethical, and moral lives have been altered needs to be undone.

Parenting and education systems need to become more student-centric, in terms of balancing technologies with in-person pedagogical methods.

This centrality is not about pressuring them to excel by securing high grades, but to provide emotional support and to acknowledge the presence of every student in the classroom, and make them feel important. We will drastically reduce student anxiety if educational institutions become the second home for students, rather than a mechanised assembly line producing the skilled workforce for tomorrow.

Ravi Kumar is an associate professor at Department of Sociology in South Asian University.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.