A growing problem not only in India but all over the globe is that children are more stressed than ever. In fact, India has one of the highest rates of suicides among students, an issue that begs, screams and yearns for attention, yet goes unattended many a times. Stress and Isolation are eating up a student’s psyche like termite, hollowing the core from inside, leaving an empty shell on the outside to brave all the issues alone. One major reason behind this sharp vicissitude of life amongst the children is the ever increasing lack of value education in the child’s life across school, family and social life. Values like compassion, humility, tolerance, respect etc are fast depleting from our children, youth as well as the society in general, affecting the quality of life dramatically. Holistic development of an individual can never be complete if moral values are neglected and such incomplete aspects give rise to stress, dissatisfaction, desolation and eventually unhappiness in the children of today.
And these statements are not daunting forecasts or premonitions that might see fruition in time to come.Official data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that sexual crime committed by juveniles is on rise, something that should send out alarms blaring in all corners of the societal structure.
It’s no secret that in today’s socio-economic and educational groups children are constantly affected by stress, depression, anxiety and isolation which eventually lead to the cloud of sadness envelope their thought process and decision making skills. Add to that the sheer lack of value education today and we sadly have a perfect recipe for catastrophe brewing.
The overall unhappy atmosphere and eroded virtues have given rise to situations where our children are either on the way to become scourges against human values or have given in to the hatred and become ticking time bombs. A casual glance across the news any given day gives us insight into horrifying and tragic headlines involving school students and juveniles.
“In horrific act of violence a class 12 student of one of the leading schools of Haryana Yamunanagar shot his principal dead because he had been recently suspended and expelled from the school.”
“The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a 5,000-page chargesheet in the murder of an eight-year-old student at Gurugram School, charging a Class 11 student of the same school with murder.”
“Bhopal police said that at least 12 students, 6 of them girls, had committed suicide in parts of Madhya Pradesh as they were depressed over their Class X and XII results.”
“A Class V student was found hanging from the ceiling fan at her home in Kolkata hours after her parents rebuked her for not giving attention to her studies.”
“Two students from Noida, are seen wherein one of them is slapping the other, and others are looking on. The slap was so hard that the student lost 25% of his hearing ability as a result.”
“When a weeping neighbour told Vishay’s mother that he had sexually assaulted her seven-year-old child, she was shocked. Even more shocking was his statement “I did it; I felt it was what I wanted to do”.
News like these becoming a regular part and parcel of our life are sounding the knell for the demise of innocence, values, virtues and happiness amongst our future, the children and the time to tackle these issues is now.