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mid-day editorial: Place less premium on academics and more on life

Updated on: 02 April,2018 06:06 AM IST  |  Mumbai
mid-day correspondent |

After failing in two subjects, a Std IX student from Khargar committed suicide by hanging herself on Wednesday evening, when she was alone at home

mid-day editorial: Place less premium on academics and more on life

After failing in two subjects, a Std IX student from Khargar committed suicide by hanging herself on Wednesday evening, when she was alone at home. In a report in this paper, the police said she left behind a suicide note. They also added that she was getting poor marks for a while and was under pressure. This news comes just a day after a girl from a Kurla school hanged herself in her home after she was pulled up for cheating in the final exam. She had smuggled in chits for an exam and was caught.


In both instances, two young lives have been lost and the bigger tragedy is that these deaths could have been so easily avoided. Though copying and failing are two different aspects, it shows us the importance of attaching a high value to human life. Youngsters have to be taught that nothing can be above human life. It is precious and needs to be preserved.


In the case of copying though, the girl must have feared humiliation; students need to be stronger to be able to face it. Give them examples of sports stars who fell the ground after they were caught cheating and how they got up, dusted themselves, got back their values, if not their reputation, and made a success of their lives.


Counsellors and parents also need to realise that children are too mentally brittle these days. They should have the mental strength to take setbacks and even shame in their stride, learn from the experience and grow from it.  Teachers are now actually wary of saying much or correcting students because of the spate of suicides for what one may perceive as 'trivial' reasons. This mindset shows the need for greater adult-child interaction, less premium on academic marks, high values, and an absolute premium on human life in this push-button age.

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