DC Edit | Try hard to halt student suicides
The lifestyle choices made by students also contribute to their deteriorating mental health. The sheer consumerism of social media platforms, driven by highly addictive short videos or shorts, and the creation of echo chambers to boost user engagement has severely impacted the mental health of crores of children;
The Supreme Court’s decision to set up a National Task Force to investigate the causes behind the rising incidence of student suicides in the country is both timely and commendable. The court’s observation that the number of student suicides have now surpassed those committed by farmers due to agrarian distress highlights the grave mental health crisis affecting India’s future generations.
Though the Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the parents of an IIT student linking caste-based discrimination to their son’s suicide, the two-judge bench rightly expanded the scope of the case to address the broader issue of the mental health of students.
While various factors, including personal and societal, could drive a person to end his or her life, media organisations have been highlighting growing pressure on students from parents, peers and teachers as well as from society at large to achieve success as defined by popular societal consensus.
This unrealistic expectation disregards the fundamental truth that each child is uniquely talented. Additionally, the intense competition to secure admission into premium institutions further subjects children to severe pressure affecting their mental well-being.
The lifestyle choices made by students also contribute to their deteriorating mental health. The sheer consumerism of social media platforms, driven by highly addictive short videos or shorts, and the creation of echo chambers to boost user engagement has severely impacted the mental health of crores of children. In spite of multiple studies warning of the harmful effects of such content, the Central government has not taken any steps to regulate or discourage these features.
If the nation wants to improve the mental health of its future generations, it requires a change in the mindset of parents, society, government and children themselves. Whether these issues could be fixed with an executive order or a judicial order remains uncertain, but the Supreme Court has at least initiated a much-needed conversation.