Chandini Jain's murder puts focus on romance

Hyderabad: The recent murder of Chandini Jain, a seventeen-year-old student of the Silver Oaks Academy, by her male friend has brought teen relationships under the spotlight. Psychologists say that the steps taken by schools to curb relationships between students result in the development of rebellious attitudes.

Medical experts say that hormonal changes often result in impulsive behaviours in teenagers. Dr Bharat Kumar Reddy, a psychologist, says, “Students are in a phase of transition. We deal with a large number of youngsters who are exposed to a lot of things. If they fail to differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong, their minds can be altered negatively.

The fault is in our educational system, and this is becoming clear as more cases crop up. We fail to teach our students the ability to understand; we only prepare them for a race.”

Faculty members often reprimand or humiliate students for being close friends with members of the opposite gender, and this can have an adverse impact on them.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of crimes committed by “scorned” lovers. Dr Priya Reddy, a psychiatrist, says, “Children’s minds are turbulent. You never know when their thoughts will take an extreme turn, and so they need constant counselling, especially if they show any signs of aggression. Peers should complain if their friends begin to show any signs of violence.”

Medical experts say that incidents such as murder are usually not the first instances of violence displayed by perpetrators. Mean-while, parents question the lack of counselling facilities available at schools. “Schools should ensure that there is proper counselling mechanism in place for students. Each case is different, and it needs to be handled properly. The failure of a relationship, or pressure, as it was in Chandini’s case, should not be the reason for the commission of a crime,” says Dr Bharat Kumar.

Students told to remove all social media apps

After the murder of Chandini Jain the Silver Oaks School directed students of Classes X, XI and XII to uninstall all social media apps from their iPads. Though iPad was compulsory in Silver Oaks School after Class VII, now the management has asked students not to bring iPads to school till Dussera vacation.

The management has also advised students not to talk to outsiders or the media. Bus drivers have been asked to drop children at home, instead of dropping at drop points.

Parents are happy as they have been opposing the use of iPad in schools.

Parents believe that iPad should be used only for reference and should not be mandatory in schools. One parent said, "Schools make parents buy iPads for kids. But parents want schools to focus on textbooks as iPads means students have access to Internet and that drags kids into harmful incidents''.