Kochi: Stressed students make 112 calls to helpline

Kochi: A round-the-clock helpline started to help students post declaration of SSLC and Plus Two results got over 100 calls in just 48 hours, reflecting the stress faced by the younger lot.

“We’ve received a total of 112 calls till 5 pm with many student stressed out about their marks and worried about facing the society. In many cases, the students are worried over how to disclose the marks to their parents,” said Dr Snovy Manjooran, psychologist and special educator, one of the experts answering the calls.

The Indian Medical Association, Cochin, in association with NGO MAGICS has opened a round-the-clock emergency helpline – 0484-7117172’ on Wednesday evening.

Four counselling experts answered the calls continuously.

The counsellors got calls even past mid-night when the stressed out students said they could not sleep and are worried about their future prospects.

“In one case, the boy had decided to run away from his home as he does not want to face his friends and relatives after scoring ‘low’ marks in SSLC. We managed to make him face the reality. We also provided the details of various options for his higher studies which cooled him down,” Dr Manjooran said.

The calls were pouring in even on Friday evening, however, the frequency has started coming down.

“The calls lasted from five to 30 minutes. The students often take extreme decisions by instantly reacting to the situation in the first two or three days and after that they will be okay. We’ve to make preparations out of our field like the higher studies options for the students,” she added.

The calls made to the helpline are kept confidential and the counsellers have no information about personal details of callers including their location.