The menace of student suicide finally grips Pakistan too
May 31, 2012
LAHORE: As yet another Pakistani student succumbs to exam stress, taking the suicide toll to three in as many days, factors like exam stress, verbal and physical abuse from teachers and admonishment from parents are surely pushing young people to perform or perish – a phenomenon that is quite common in neighbouring India, US, England, China and other countries.
While the recent student suicide spree in Pakistan not only presents a compelling argument for education reforms in the country, it also provides food for thought for demanding parents whose high aspirations are driving children away from having the courage to live.
Similarly, prevalence of highly abusive teachers, the apathetic attitude of state authorities governing affairs related to education and the lack of initiative on the part of educational institutions to introduce counseling services for the school and college students to reduce the risk of such unfortunate instances are the other key factors forcing students to prefer death over reprimand, punishment and humiliation.
Research reveals that throughout the world, academicians, parents and mental health professionals have joined hands to device viable counseling techniques to provide guidance to students so that their stress levels do not cross the threshold for suicide.
Detailed research undertaken by The News International reveals that student suicides in India had increased 26 per cent from 2006 to 2010, with Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai featuring prominently among cities with the most prolific trends in this regard.
The November 2, 2011edition of the prestigious Times of India had stated:” While 5,857 student suicides (or 16 a day) were reported in 2006, the figure jumped to 7,379 in 2010, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau. In other words, 20 students killed themselves every day in 2010, something both academicians and mental health professionals blame on a flawed education system where performance pressure ranks above all else. For the first time in five years, Maharashtra recorded the largest number of suicides in 2010, followed by West Bengal. Over the past decade or so, the two states have only interchanged positions at the top, a phenomenon unexplained by even educationists. Delhi, as a city, alone accounted for 133 deaths in 2010, while as a state, it accounted for 166 deaths.”
The Times of India had also quoted noted local academicians, like Shyam Menon, vice-chancellor of Ambedkar University in Delhi, who had viewed that the examination system and the selection process for institutions of higher education weighed heavily on young people.
The widely subscribed Indian newspaper had quoted Vice Chancellor Menon as asserting: “The volume of students passing out of the school education system and vying for admission to tertiary education has dramatically increased over the years, with competition levels increasing too. At a time when higher education can result in social mobility, the stakes are very high. Today, there is a greater link between employability and higher education.”
The Times of India had gone to write that according to psychiatrists, a myopic and inadequate education system was responsible for forcing students to learn what they might never need in life.
According to India’s CNN-IBN television report of January 13, 2010, statistics showed that between 95 and 100 people committed suicide in India every day, and of these, a whopping 40 per cent were young students.
The Indian Crime Records Bureau figures for 2007 showed that 45 per cent of suicides involved people between 15 and 29.
According to the Indian Crime Records Bureau findings, also quoted by the Indian Express in its January 10, 2010 edition, in 99 per cent of suicide incidents, the cause was invariably academic pressure.
In China, as the esteemed Shanghai Daily had recently reported, student suicides in Shanghai city have more than doubled over the last two years. The Shanghai Daily had written in one of its editions: “Some 13 students killed themselves last year (2011) - five more than in 2010 and seven more than in 2009, the Shanghai Education Commission said in the annual Primary and Secondary School Students Safety Report. In some cases, students had opted to kill themselves after being heavily scolded for staying up late to play video games and reading digital novels etc.”
In March 2011, a Chinese student had chosen to end his life by jumping off the school building after he was insulted by his teacher because the boy had been playing with his cell phone in class. The student’s parents were summoned, the child apologized but the teacher had refused to be merciful.
In the US, as an Illinois State Public Health report suggested, no fewer than 1,088 college students in US committed suicides every year, which roughly translates into 7.5 student deaths per every one hundred thousand knowledge seekers in population.
The above-quoted Illinois State Public Health report had maintained: “Data from 10 years of suicide deaths on campuses of the Big 10 universities indicates that the majority of suicides occurred in the 20-29 age group. Specifically, 71 percent of female suicides and 68.7 percent of male suicides were in this age group.”
This report adds: “The National survey data indicates more than 9 percent of students admit to seriously thinking about suicide with another 1.5 percent having made an attempt. Of the students surveyed, within the past 12 years, half reported feeling very sad, one third reported feeling hopeless and 22 percent felt so depressed as to not be able to function. These percentages increase for those students who have seriously considered suicide. These students are more than 90 percent likely to have felt sad and hopeless to the point of not functioning.”
A 2011 study report prepared by the University of Virginia stated that suicide had outpaced alcohol as a cause of death among college students.
The findings were based on data from 157 schools, representing 1.36 million students ages 18 to 24, which responded to a survey, sent to 1,150 institutions. In the survey, schools were asked for mortality rates and causes of death of students between the ages of 18 to 24 for the 2009-10 academic years.
According to the first study in more than 70 years to look at the major causes of college mortality in the US, suicides accounted for 6.18 deaths per 100,000 students, while alcohol was a factor in 4.86 deaths per 100,000.
A 2009 study report of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (working under the American National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control) disclosed that more than 33,000 suicides occurred in the US, which was the equivalent of 91 suicides per day; one suicide every 16 minutes or 10.95 suicides per 100,000 population.
Then, there is a strong link between bullying and suicide in countries like the US and United Kingdom etc.
A study in Britain has found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. According to statistics reported by “ABC News,” nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying on campuses.
The website of highly respected Cambridge University of England has shed enough light on the issue of suicides among students and the causes behind these horrific incidents. The Cambridge website reads: “Suicide is the second most common cause of death in young adults and the incidence is rising, particularly amongst young men. Yet most people who attempt suicide are ambivalent about killing themselves - frequently what they seek is to put a stop to unbearable feelings or a situation that seems intolerable. Someone who is suicidal may well be feeling frightened, trapped, hopeless, helpless, confused and distressed - and desperate to escape from his or her suffering rather than actually wanting to die. But at times like this suicide can feel like the only way out. Thoughts about suicide are very common - the thought will probably cross the mind of the majority of people at some point in their lives.”
According to the Cambridge University, loneliness, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, feelings of worthlessness, depression due to lack of achievement in academic field, resultant feelings of guilt, shame and self reproach, unrealistically high personal or academic expectations and consequent high levels of stress leading to alcohol and drugs in many cases are some of the feelings and experiences that may contribute to someone feeling suicidal.”
While the recent student suicide spree in Pakistan not only presents a compelling argument for education reforms in the country, it also provides food for thought for demanding parents whose high aspirations are driving children away from having the courage to live.
Similarly, prevalence of highly abusive teachers, the apathetic attitude of state authorities governing affairs related to education and the lack of initiative on the part of educational institutions to introduce counseling services for the school and college students to reduce the risk of such unfortunate instances are the other key factors forcing students to prefer death over reprimand, punishment and humiliation.
Research reveals that throughout the world, academicians, parents and mental health professionals have joined hands to device viable counseling techniques to provide guidance to students so that their stress levels do not cross the threshold for suicide.
Detailed research undertaken by The News International reveals that student suicides in India had increased 26 per cent from 2006 to 2010, with Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai featuring prominently among cities with the most prolific trends in this regard.
The November 2, 2011edition of the prestigious Times of India had stated:” While 5,857 student suicides (or 16 a day) were reported in 2006, the figure jumped to 7,379 in 2010, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau. In other words, 20 students killed themselves every day in 2010, something both academicians and mental health professionals blame on a flawed education system where performance pressure ranks above all else. For the first time in five years, Maharashtra recorded the largest number of suicides in 2010, followed by West Bengal. Over the past decade or so, the two states have only interchanged positions at the top, a phenomenon unexplained by even educationists. Delhi, as a city, alone accounted for 133 deaths in 2010, while as a state, it accounted for 166 deaths.”
The Times of India had also quoted noted local academicians, like Shyam Menon, vice-chancellor of Ambedkar University in Delhi, who had viewed that the examination system and the selection process for institutions of higher education weighed heavily on young people.
The widely subscribed Indian newspaper had quoted Vice Chancellor Menon as asserting: “The volume of students passing out of the school education system and vying for admission to tertiary education has dramatically increased over the years, with competition levels increasing too. At a time when higher education can result in social mobility, the stakes are very high. Today, there is a greater link between employability and higher education.”
The Times of India had gone to write that according to psychiatrists, a myopic and inadequate education system was responsible for forcing students to learn what they might never need in life.
According to India’s CNN-IBN television report of January 13, 2010, statistics showed that between 95 and 100 people committed suicide in India every day, and of these, a whopping 40 per cent were young students.
The Indian Crime Records Bureau figures for 2007 showed that 45 per cent of suicides involved people between 15 and 29.
According to the Indian Crime Records Bureau findings, also quoted by the Indian Express in its January 10, 2010 edition, in 99 per cent of suicide incidents, the cause was invariably academic pressure.
In China, as the esteemed Shanghai Daily had recently reported, student suicides in Shanghai city have more than doubled over the last two years. The Shanghai Daily had written in one of its editions: “Some 13 students killed themselves last year (2011) - five more than in 2010 and seven more than in 2009, the Shanghai Education Commission said in the annual Primary and Secondary School Students Safety Report. In some cases, students had opted to kill themselves after being heavily scolded for staying up late to play video games and reading digital novels etc.”
In March 2011, a Chinese student had chosen to end his life by jumping off the school building after he was insulted by his teacher because the boy had been playing with his cell phone in class. The student’s parents were summoned, the child apologized but the teacher had refused to be merciful.
In the US, as an Illinois State Public Health report suggested, no fewer than 1,088 college students in US committed suicides every year, which roughly translates into 7.5 student deaths per every one hundred thousand knowledge seekers in population.
The above-quoted Illinois State Public Health report had maintained: “Data from 10 years of suicide deaths on campuses of the Big 10 universities indicates that the majority of suicides occurred in the 20-29 age group. Specifically, 71 percent of female suicides and 68.7 percent of male suicides were in this age group.”
This report adds: “The National survey data indicates more than 9 percent of students admit to seriously thinking about suicide with another 1.5 percent having made an attempt. Of the students surveyed, within the past 12 years, half reported feeling very sad, one third reported feeling hopeless and 22 percent felt so depressed as to not be able to function. These percentages increase for those students who have seriously considered suicide. These students are more than 90 percent likely to have felt sad and hopeless to the point of not functioning.”
A 2011 study report prepared by the University of Virginia stated that suicide had outpaced alcohol as a cause of death among college students.
The findings were based on data from 157 schools, representing 1.36 million students ages 18 to 24, which responded to a survey, sent to 1,150 institutions. In the survey, schools were asked for mortality rates and causes of death of students between the ages of 18 to 24 for the 2009-10 academic years.
According to the first study in more than 70 years to look at the major causes of college mortality in the US, suicides accounted for 6.18 deaths per 100,000 students, while alcohol was a factor in 4.86 deaths per 100,000.
A 2009 study report of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (working under the American National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control) disclosed that more than 33,000 suicides occurred in the US, which was the equivalent of 91 suicides per day; one suicide every 16 minutes or 10.95 suicides per 100,000 population.
Then, there is a strong link between bullying and suicide in countries like the US and United Kingdom etc.
A study in Britain has found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. According to statistics reported by “ABC News,” nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying on campuses.
The website of highly respected Cambridge University of England has shed enough light on the issue of suicides among students and the causes behind these horrific incidents. The Cambridge website reads: “Suicide is the second most common cause of death in young adults and the incidence is rising, particularly amongst young men. Yet most people who attempt suicide are ambivalent about killing themselves - frequently what they seek is to put a stop to unbearable feelings or a situation that seems intolerable. Someone who is suicidal may well be feeling frightened, trapped, hopeless, helpless, confused and distressed - and desperate to escape from his or her suffering rather than actually wanting to die. But at times like this suicide can feel like the only way out. Thoughts about suicide are very common - the thought will probably cross the mind of the majority of people at some point in their lives.”
According to the Cambridge University, loneliness, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, feelings of worthlessness, depression due to lack of achievement in academic field, resultant feelings of guilt, shame and self reproach, unrealistically high personal or academic expectations and consequent high levels of stress leading to alcohol and drugs in many cases are some of the feelings and experiences that may contribute to someone feeling suicidal.”
