With best intentions at heart, many of us have been guilty of putting pressure on our kids. Whether it is about being a better student or a better person, all of us have pushed them hard at some point.
We want to see our kids as successful individuals and for which, we stress the importance of academics.
In this quest to make them good students and successful individuals of tomorrow, we become so obsessed with their academics, that we teach our kids everything – from fundamentals of science to maths and much more.
But, what we forget to teach them are basic life skills – being happy, being confident and being strong in the case of failures. We forget to teach them –
- How to handle failures when everyone around them expects them to succeed?
- How to handle self when they fail to bear the burden of their own and other’s expectation?
- How not to lose self-confidence or let themselves down in case of adversity?
- How to let go of failures and move ahead?
Unfortunately, the lack of these basic skills leads to stress, anxiety and mental illness in our kids. And neither our kids nor we are prepared for these challenges. No wonder the W.H.O. study found that India has the highest suicide rates among those aged 15 to 29.
Recently, an IIT student committed suicide as he felt he had no reason to live. He thought he let down his parents and wasted their sacrifices.
And now another 19-year-old college student ended her life. Sukhmit Kaur Brar who couldn’t handle the burden of studies and underwent extreme depression.
As per police, a Mohali college girl on Friday committed suicide. The girl identified as Sukhmit Kaur Brar, hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her room. She was a second-year student of BSc at DAV College in Sector-10 of Chandigarh.
The horrific incident took place in the afternoon when the girl was studying alone in her room. It is heartbreaking to lose a child. But, what is even more painful is the fact that you realize that your child gave up on life because of the unbearable pressure of dreams and expectations.
The victim’s father, Manjeet Singh, who runs a computer business in Chandigarh, went to his daughter’s room and knocked it repeatedly. As there was no response, the worried father looked into the window to find his beloved daughter hanging from the fan.
SHO of Phase 1 police station, Inspector Lakhwinder Singh said,
“The victim was apparently going through depression due to studies. No suicide note was recovered from the spot.”
The increasing number of suicides among young Indian kids makes us wonder. Is it our obsession with our kids’ future, that our kids succumb to the pressure or our inability to help our kids manage stress and pressure of life.
Why can’t we accept that our kids are ‘humans’ with their own desires, dreams, aspirations, and potential?
It is high time to let our kids know that irrespective of what they achieve or not achieve, we would love them anyway. And, whenever things go wrong, we will always be standing right behind them. We’ll always have their back!
At I FOR HER, we are mourning the death of this young girl and hoping her parents gather the courage to accept the ugly reality of their young daughter’s death.
R.I.P Sukhmit, You’ll be missed!