A
class ninth student of Gundecha Education Academy at Kandivili ended her life by jumping from
top floor of her building. Cause is unknown. We are no one to judge her or her
family or the circumstances. Family is at loss and so is she. The video of the
suicide has been widely shared on social media and parents like in most suicide
cases are unaware of the situation. The danger of the suicide video being seen
by the children is one of the irony which most of the parents sharing the video
are unaware.
I have jotted down some of the facts and
remedies which parents can intervene and prevent such events from happening.
1. A child is prone to depression much more
than adults.
2.Till the age of 18, a child can be prone
to mental illness , disorders and depression.
3.
If a child is showing any kinds of withdrawals , sitting quiet for a
long time, dreaming , sudden loss of attention span, too many distractions and
not interested in anything, temper tantrums, bouts of anger or crying too
easily on petty things , please sit with the child.
4.
Take leave from work, go for a vacation. Leave everything and talk to
him or her. No need to ask her why is she sad or aloof. Just discuss general
things to encourage her to open up. Assure that you are there whatever happens.
5.
Don’t ask your child to adjust too much to
any changes in life. Everyone has a level of adaptability. Let it happen at its
pace.
6.
No academics is important than your child’s mental and physical health.
7.
No comparing the child with others rather compare with herself/himself.
Eg. When you did that test / sang a song/ played well last time, we were more happy.
8.
Children should play till the age they want
to. Play is stress busters. Physical exercise is also a stress buster. If they don’t
get a chance to play due to less kids or weather, enroll them in some hobby
class or pursue a sport.
9.
If they like to dance and sing they should do that everyday.
10.
Please don’t burden them with school homework , tuition homework and
external classes homework. Thinking will be limited.
11.
Talk about everything that we converse at home appropriately as per
their level. Let them be aware of life's dealings.
12.
Listen to them too. If they don’t want tuitions / studies for a day or
two, pls give them that break. Explain the consequences of that break. Don’t
warn.
13.
Allow and encourage them to befriend
like minded kids . Let them meet their friends sometimes under
supervision. Talk about their friends and their family. Allow child to gauge
the nature of her friends so that she or he knows to judge correctly.
14.
Probably many of us didnt witness or even heard such incidents because
we had plenty of friends to talk and share our thoughts.
15.
Nowadays because of growing instances
of manhandling , abduction etc. We dont
allow them to go down and play on their own. However, we need to make some time
for this. PLAY , having good FRIENDS and
parental interaction with kids are critical.
16. One of the best way to deal with a
child having any addiction like media, bad company, drugs etc is by diverting
him or her and keeping them busy with tasks they are insterested in.
17. Building up their emotional
intelligence and helping to manage their emotions is important.
18. DO NOT HESITATE to take professional
help if in doubt or if needed. Do not take things for granted by ignoring.
Just wote this blog to increase more
awareness among we parents.
Every emotional turmoil can be sorted through right
intervention and communication.
Life is priceless.
