Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 12: At least 66 children have ended their lives in Kerala since the Covid-19 lockdown began on March 25 with youngsters facing stress unable to bear the unprecedented situation where schools are shut and friends are out of reach to share their woes.
According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, there has been an increasing instance of suicidal tendencies among children in the state due to various reasons, including parents scolding them over mobile phone use and failure to attend online classes.
This has prompted the government to launch a teleconsultation facility for children facing stress and also cautioning parents against hurting their sentiments while being concerned about welfare of their wards. It has also ordered a study into the issue. "Among the children an increasing instance of suicidal tendency is being witnessed which will become an extremely serious social issue.
Since March 25, when the national lockdown was imposed, 66 children, below 18 years of age, have ended their lives due to various reasons", Vijayan said. A mother scolding her child for not attending the ongoing online classes, or a parent questioning a child for downloading a sleazy video on the smartphone or the constant rift between the parents were among the reasons which triggered the suicidal tendency, he said on Saturday.
As the schools have not yet re-opened due to the lockdown, the children are unable to meet their friends and share their problems. Vijayan said though the parents were intervening keeping in mind their child's welfare, it was essential to ensure that the young minds were not hurt in the process. To helpthe children facing issues relating to mental pressures, 'Chiri'atele-counselling initiative has been started by the government under its Our Responsibility to Children Programme (ORC), a planned community intervention that connects with people between the age of 12-18 years. The state health department has also launched "Ottakalla Oppamundu" (You are not alone,we are with you) programmeto help children facing any kind of mental distress and to prevent the suicidal tendencies among them.
Health Minister K K Shailaja said under the psychosocial support assistance, her department has so far reached out to 68,814 children and 10,890 children have been given counselling. The changes in the behaviour of their children should be noted by the family members and if they find something amiss, the district psychosocial help desk should be informed, she said. A 15-member team of Students Police Cadets will be constituted in each of the 14 districts to help the children needing any assistance,police sources said. Education should not be a competition, but a means to gain knowledge, Vijayan said.
A society's future lies with the children and it is the duty of the society and the government to ensure their physical and mental well being. Taking a serious view of the situation, the state government has constituteda committee headed byFire and Rescue Services DGP R Sreelekha to conduct a study on child suicides in the state. The aim of the ORC was also to create a multi collaborative platform for government and professional agencies, parents and teachers to equip youth with appropriate know-how to face challenges, officials said.
Comments
Damn sure. he misused power. He threatened. Not her fault
Sad incident. i feel something is wrong. why will she escape from the hospital
police should do proper investigation.
Policemen needs bigger punishment than ordinary people. Dont they have ethics
Policemen needs bigger punishment than ordinary people. Dont they have ethics
Shame on you chinnappa. You uttered a typical Indian mentality of judging the woman when she suffers a rape
Looks like she moved out at her free will and faced such consequence. her fault
Need to change punishment system. We need something that arise fear to repeat. like chopping head publicly
so many grey areas are there.. such as hospitals, offices, schools, police station. need to have something emotionless creature.. robots or something else inorder to keep safe our sisters
What is the difference between RSS and ISS, R and I? R for Rowdy, I for Intelligence, so Rowdy and Criminal is equal so do not compare, Criminal is Criminal, Intelligence is Intelligence.
Woman is safe in India during Modi rule (if i say woman is unsafe under Modi rule, i will be called an anti-national)
A woman was gang raped and later she went missing. But people here are fighting with each other in the name of ISIS, RSS, ISI.. shame on you people.
wow ! naren kotian what a brilliant statement........... you should join FBI better hhhhhhhhaaaaaaa...
Dear Mr. NAren... How exactly you know that? You must be a member of RAW or ISI or ISIS or RSS I guess.
ISIS or its associate in India RSS must be behind raping this innocent girl. Israeli Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) head SIMON ELLIOT (fake name Abu Bakr Baghdadi), Jewish actor trained by MOSSAD in terrorism and the same MOSSAD has been associated in training RSS - terrorists.
ISIS hand cannot be ruled out. people belonging to one particular community do all criminal activities posing as different people. Here they dressed like police and committed crime.
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