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.
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I do not know why media is making some big issues. Most of us have many FB accounts, Email Ids. This is not like Aadhar or Passport where it is the identity. Even in US, I know many senators having many FB accounts. They cannot share their personal details on FB so they have personal, political and regular friends.
Its not your fault. Politics isn't your cup of tea. It is something that is beyond your abilities! Sumne acting madkond iddidre yeshto chennagittu alva? Why on earth do you need all this? Is it worth?
...she just wanted to follow Kejribhai and thought abusing Modi would be a good idea...poor thing paid for it....the way it looks spandana will now onwards beat slower and more sensibly...
When will Ramya make public her smart strategy to take over Nehru dynasty to become all-powerful in Congress party and announce her secret master-stroke engagement to Rahu ?
I like her witty tweet and proud of her success she achieved at young age. She is more smart courage than feku supporter stone aged most superstious backward mindset RSS criminals (especially pucking uneducated ignorant brainwashed male and from mangalore chaddi taliban region) from karnataka. Best part, she doesn't give rats to 1000s of hate, abuse message from 3rd class chaddi criminals. RSS
criminal hurt by fact! RAT that how smart Ramya treat trolls on her facebook and twitter. you low life coward chaddi criminals can intimate her with her and demolishing comments? get a life
manipulating videos is the history of Brahmin Bania Jumla Party! They did it in JNU, they did with Hardik Patel, they might have done now, they will continue doing always
ತಾಯಿ ರಮ್ಯಾ ದೇವಿ ! ಎಷ್ಟು ಶತದಡ್ಡಿ ಇದ್ದೀಯಮ್ಮಾ ನೀನು !? ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಪೆದ್ದಿ, ಮುಂದೆ election ಗೆಲ್ಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಇದೇಯೋ ಅಥವಾ ಪಪ್ಪು ಆಗ್ಲೇ ರಾಜ್ಯಸಭೆ seat ready ಇಟ್ಟಿದಾನೋ?
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