IT is really unfortunate to see the cascading effects of the pressures of the society, parents and schools on young minds. Around 21 students take their lives in India everyday and every 10 minutes someone in this country commits suicide, say studies. In fact, while 5,757 students committed suicide in 2006, there was a staggering spurt of 33.6% to 7,696 in such cases in 2011. It is really tragic that suicides by students in colleges and schools across India have been rising tremendously. This alarming suicide rate among students again highlights the harsh question – why is it that our future generations are in this state that they turn to killing   themselves as a viable option?
The picture is equally grim in Delhi which is fast turning into India’s student suicide capital. According to National Crime Records Bureau, 200 students committed suicide in the Union Territory in 2011, far more than any other city or Union Territory in the country. While the data is alarmingly high, police records don’t even account for the large and rising number of attempted suicides. There isn’t a single day when the newspapers do not report a student suicide. Evidently, high expectations, a redundant education system and tough competition lead many children to opt for the easier path-suicides.
The increase in incidents of student suicides should be taken seriously by one and all. There are so many reasons responsible for forcing students to take such an extreme step. While it is an open fact that increasing pressure for performance is one of the causes, it hints at an educational system in India where marks are the magic mantras that can make anything happen. Our present education system works on creating undue pressure on students making them prone to such extreme steps like suicide. In fact, during exam and result seasons, there is a spurt in cases of student suicides due to the fact that many could not get enough marks to move on to the next grade or because they could not secure admissions to colleges of their choice. The goal of Education has turned into getting high marks by any means, which encourages the interference of politics and money power in admissions. While the CBSE board has taken a good decision by making class X exams optional, we are miles away from modifying the existing system and giving importance to attaining knowledge in the right way. This has also been reiterated by Krishna Kumar, former director of the National Council of Education Research and Training who says, “The Indian Examination system is at the heart of the problem that drives educated young people to desperation. The Exam system is waiting to be reformed for a very long time. Curriculum reforms have begun but a parallel change in the exam system has not taken place.”
Unfortunately, we live in a society that recognises only those who have gained monetarily. Life today has become a mad race to reach the top and conquer everything under the sun. The pressure to excel has reached an all time high. Most students and their parents in India have only one goal-to secure above 90 percent marks or even 100 percent in the class XII board examinations. Everything is geared towards that goal. Rather than being a joyful experience, education has turned into a fiercely competitive firewalk that stresses the students out into taking the ultimate step of quitting life.
What has led to the present state of affairs is the rising stress and competition among students who find themselves in a perpetual race without understanding what they actually need. This way, they never get a chance to explore their abilities fully.  In society and family, an individual is put under a lot of pressure to perform even though he is either not competent or not interested enough. It is unfortunate that many young lives are lost due to this stereotypical mindset of our society, as many a time they are not able to live up to the peer pressure, competition and parental expectations. Surveys conducted on many professionals have revealed that up to 70% of students either accede to their parental wishes or give in to peer pressure while selecting  careers.
Parents, schools and colleges want to churn out skilled professionals at any cost. Extreme pressure brought by teachers on students to excel drives some youngsters to suicide. The failure of parents to accept their ward’s limitations result in extreme steps. The mad scramble to score more marks actually destroys the creativity and individuality of a student. This pressure from all sides stresses his mind unduly developing in him negative traits that get projected to later life even. The dire consequences of this whole faulty system may be the emergence of a maladjusted, imbalanced and purilish personality. This defeats the basic aim of achieving education, which should be such that it prepares the youngster to meet the challenges in later life in a balanced way.
The attitudes of parents are no less to blame for this pathetic plight of our younger generation. Parents want their children to be competitive and successful. They want to live their lives through their children and expect them to perform out of the box. A majority of parents make comparison of children with others without realising that this breeds insecurity and low self-esteem, resulting in severe implications. Motivated by unbridled ambition, many parents fail to prepare their children to take pride in what they are rather than what they ought to be. This way they add to the child’s stress by entertaining unrealistically high expectations of him. They need to understand that even if their child is an underperformer, he is likely to be better in other areas. It is the moral support from parents that matters most when children face pressure from teachers, peers and friends. Parents need to encourage children to work on those areas where they feel strong so that their development is not hampered. Consequently, the child won’t be tempted to take extreme steps like suicide. Parents need to understand that the worries affecting children deserve as much attention as those of an adult,and that teenage is a period of raging hormones. The need of the hour is to provide to children a guideline on how to overcome the challenges in life.
The rising suicides are also indicative of the fact that making it to the top may be important but not at the cost of our lives. The undue pressure on the kids to stretch beyond their limits is not worth the price. They lose their innocence and creativity because they are put on a treadmill. To live up to the constant need to meet expectations, a child works harder and harder. And when he fails, he doesn’t have the maturity to handle the failure as well as parents’ disapproval. This often results in the child harming himself, even mortally. It is really unfortunate to see the cascading effect of the pressures of the society, parents and schools on young minds.
The rising spate of student suicides in India is a matter of grave concern. It is extremely disturbing that so many of them are succumbing to pressures pointing to stressful period childhood and youth have turned to be today. The need of the hour is to revamp our education system before we see tragedies of these kinds increasing. It should be designed in such a manner that it prepares the child to meet the real challenges of life. It should not be a mere exhibition as such an education pattern can only add to the internal hollowness of our society.
The growing suicidal tendency among students provides food for thought for the nation as a whole. It is time our educators, the government as well as the society took the issue seriously and worked towards lessening the pressure on students. The role of parents is indeed vital for preparing students to take failure in their stride because a human life is far more precious than a degree he may hold. The role of the society in this regard cannot be overemphasised. Our society, which includes the system of education and employment, needs to overcome stereotypical mindsets and encourage students to follow their hearts and pursue their cherished goals in life.
The loss of even one student’s life is not just a loss to his family alone, but also a great loss to the nation. Something needs to be done to stop such impulsive acts.