Student Suicides

Prepared By:-Sahil Gupta

MBA(BE):- 2009

If All Is Not Well Then

School children are under great stress because of the overwhelming pressures imposed both by parents and teachers. Schools also compete in forcing children study, to ensure cent per cent result.

Do You KnowEvery five minutes, someone

somewhere in India attempts suicide, making suicide, the third major cause of

death.

Statistics show that annually more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in

India. In the year 2006, 12,381 people in the state of Tamil Nadu committed suicide, of which Chennai accounts for 2427.Kerala is the` suicide Capital of

India

The average global suicide rate is 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people, with suicide being the 4th leading cause of death in the 15-19 age group. A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet indicates that the suicide rate in the 15-19 group living around Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India, was 148 per 100,000 for women, and 58 per 100,000 for men. What stood out in the data was that not only were the rates extremely high, but that rates for young women were almost three times higher than rates for young men. This is the opposite of global rates, in which men are three times higher than those for women. Suicide deaths accounted for between 50 to 75 percent of all deaths in young women in the 15-19 age group. The two most common methods for females were hanging and poisoning by insecticide.The third most common method for females was one that is not seen frequently outside of India, and that is of self-immolation, or burning oneself to death in a fire. This method is common for females but rare for men. Contributing factors for the high levels of suicides for young females includes untreated mental illness, domestic violence, and conflicts over dowries. Clearly, this disturbing data points to an urgent need for suicide prevention programs, better assessment and treatment of mental disorders, and better treatment of women in India.

This is not the only solution

Statistics

Rate of Student Suicides in India

Major Reason for Student Suicide

Parents Expectations

But why? Why should so many Indians, specially those who have more access to jobs and education that ever before, want to die? Aren’t we supposed to be a spiritual people, content with our lot, with strong religious beliefs and a fatalistic attitude to life? Well, this philosophy, so rooted in our genes, has not protected even our simple village folks.Although the rewards are great if one does succeed, the stakes are higher and the struggle harder. Plus, society is becoming more individualistic. At one time, one brother often supported another, or the father supported a lazy son. Today its something to be ashamed of, depending financially on anyone but oneself. Here in India we still have a tendency to depend on one’s parents but this is slowly changing and if we go the way of the west, this tendency will disappear altogether. This increases pressures on individuals – and not everyone can make it. And then, the typical Indian joint family which often acted as a buffer in times of stress is breaking upToday, getting into IIM or IIT, scraping up a loan to pay for the education, desperately trying to get into a government medical college or in fact any reputed institute causes immense stress, even if one succeeds in the end. While many aim to get that high paying job in a multi-national, or perhaps go abroad, some start their own business, staking everything they have. If that fails…the disaster can drive people to suicide. As the graph below shows, self employed people (24 per cent) are the most vulnerable to suicide:

PIE-CHART

Important Information

It is estimated that over 100,000 people die by suicide in India every year. India alone contributes to more than 10% of suicides

in the world. The suicide rate in India has been increasing steadily and has reached 10.5 (per 100,000 of population) in

2006 registering a 67% increase over the value of 1980. Majority of suicides occur among men and in younger age groups. Despite

the gravity of the problem, information about the causes and risk factors is insufficient.

Note: The statistics presented below is based on the data available in National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for

the year 2006.

FactsAt least 125 people aged 29 years or below are committing suicide every day and 51 per cent of the total suicide victims are graduates, college students or younger.

Almost 6000 Indian students killed themselves in 2006. That’s almost a 35% jump from 2 years before. Board exams, various entrance tests, professional school tests, even high school monthly exams are creating a spate of suicides in India’s student population, an age group that one would normally associate with potential and promise. The suicide notes from some of those who killed themselves had clues to what drove their tortured souls to take the final plunge: ..I will come back as a ghost and harass my teacher....I cannot face my parents and my friends after failing this exam..

India saw 16,000 student suicides in the last three years.

As per the ministry, 5,857 students committed suicide in 2006 and the figure for 2005 was 5,138. Similarly, in 2004, 5,610 students committed suicide

NEWS Of Maharashtra on JAN 6,2009

Two days after Mumbai was rocked by three student suicides, two more girl students ended their lives in Maharashtra Wednesday. While one was studying in Class 9, the other was an engineering student who had failed in several subjects.

• \the Class 9 student, 14-year-old Rupali Shinde committed suicide by hanging herself at her Thane home here Wednesday evening, police said. She was a student of the Maharashtra High School in the city.

• In the morning, Dhanashree Patil, a former student of Amritvahini College of Engineering in Sangamner (Ahmednagar) ended her life in Nashik, according to principal G. J. Vikhe-Patil.

• Dhanashree had failed in several subjects in her final year mechanical engineering examinations last year.

• Two days ago, three Mumbai students committed suicide within 24 hours, shocking the country’s commercial capital.

• They included a 20-year old first year MBBS student, Bhajanpreet Bhullar of D.Y. Patil College (Navi Mumbai) and a Class 7 student, 13-year-old Sushant Patil who hanged himself in the toilet of Shardashram Boys High School (Dadar).

• An 11-year-old aspiring dancer, Neha Sawant hanged herself in her Dombivli (Thane) home after her parents refused her permission to pursue a dancing career.

How Can it be Prevented

Its Just About

Help Your Friend

Change Your Attitude From

Loser

Winner

Just Adopt This Attitude In Life

Just Remember