Institutions fail to equip counselling centers

Increasing number of student suicides is raising an alarm on the need for strong mental support system to the young minds at home and educational institutions. It has become a rage among a few disturbed teenage children, who are barely 16, but kill themselves succumbing to distress.

Though there was a strong voice from the concerned groups of having a dedicated psychological counseling center in the educational institution, there seems to be none in practice. Parents and educationalists have been supporting the cause for utilising psychologist and psychiatric services in the institutions such that they may help build self-confidence, emotional stability among the students.

With competition and comparison for ranks and marks becoming a matter of prestige to the parents, they are ensuring that they go beyond in enrolling their children in corporate institutions, which function for the sole cause of producing ranks.

“Lack of understanding ability, courage and insight into the life, the teenagers who were brought up with fragility are failing in sustaining life with peers under a roof for one or the other reasons. Given that they are pressured or influenced with opinions of others, they are easily giving up on lives.

The young generation is all about sensitivity and hurry,” said K Shyam Kumar a parent of Intermediate student. It is important to spend as much time as possible with children and mention life’s challenges, society and behavior. “They might not have the capacity of understanding it at the first place, but eventually they will learn to deal with people and circumstances,” adds the parent.

Explaining the importance for counsellors to treat a child with emotional and mental instability, psychologist Dr T S Rao says, “It is very disheartening to see that most educational institutions have not recognised the need of a psychologist or counsellor in their organisations.

The students should be provided with a definite grievance addressable system in the college campus to express their views. If not the institutions can employ one as such, they should at least be capable of organising a motivation session once in a while.”

Parents should ensure they insist the management on proper motivation and personality development practices in the college and see that purposeful manpower of the country are not vulnerable at an age they ought to learn to live life.