Listen, its life saving

If you are from Chennai and unless you are living under a rock you would have heard of the unfortunate suicide of a young school girl, a teenager in her Class 12 at her home. This news hit me very hard probably because I was part of a few conversations where the topic was about the multiple tuitions and coaching classes today’s school kids take up to crack the elusive IIT or NEET exams.

When I hear the schedule of some kids I wonder if they have any time to live? Don’t get me wrong, I know that these schedules are carefully planned by the parents with the best interests of their children at heart. These coaching classes are expensive and nearly push some parents deep into debt. From the break of dawn to late in the night the student is on a tight schedule monitored by the parents and before you know it childhood passes them by in a blur.

When I remember my childhood so many years ago, I did have my extra tuition classes that were default if you take the Sciences group in Class 11 & 12, but I remember that I still had time to do other things; but then life was much simpler back then and there was no assault of the devices to enslave us. When I see school students today who are going for their boards I wonder how many of them are stressed out. Then I wonder who is stressed more the student or the parents who plan, fund and execute all these classes and manage all this beyond their daily lives.

In this whirlwind life of classes, tests, school, more tests on repeat mode I wonder what all a student may miss out today? Rest, recreations, recharge are three that come to my mind but I am sure there can be many more. Stress is lurking around the corner and the tipping point may not be the same for each student. Remember this is also the time when hormones will kick in if it has not kicked in already and issues of the heart can add to the stress list. How much can a young student handle?

My greatest fear is that in this ultra-competitive environment where everyone is running at full pace willingly or unwillingly, it may just need a small obstacle to cause a big accident.  Is there a way to prevent accidents? There is one simple thing that is often overlooked is to have a conversation, the type of conversation where the student speaks and the other person listens more. More of these conversations will help to slow up the pace, allow the student to catch a few breaths and possibly de-stress a little.

I don’t know if the parents had conversations with their daughter and I don’t know how much it would have helped but there is no harm in spending time with our kids, listening to them; their thoughts, their plans, their crushes, their goals, their heart breaks, their marks, their highs, their lows, maybe it will make a difference because they will know that somebody listens to them.