Blame not the schools alone for student suicides….

Over the last fortnight, a lot has been written about the suicide of a La Martinere student named Rouvanjit Rawla. The word is that the kid ended his life because the principal of the school caned him for playing prankster inside the classroom. On the one hand I express my sympathies and condolences to the Rawla family, but at the same time I have my reservations of holding the school responsible entirely for this unfortunate chain of events.

Are the children of today, who are so intelligent so as to use mobile phones from the age of 4 and computers from the age of 6, who are so mature so as to give workable solutions for some problems to their parents from the age of 10-12, so hyper-sensitive and insecure themselves that even a cane can drive them to suicide? How do they know at the tender age of 14 (which was Rouvanjit’s age when he killed himself) how a suicide is committed? Is it their over-intelligence that is acting as a boomerang? I totally agree with the point that caning and beating up children is an archaic institution in itself, inflicting permanent physical damage on the tender child in the name of morality is absolute vandalism, but shouldn’t students of this era also understand the purpose behind all this? Are they so imbecile mentally to do that? I do not think so.

I have also studied in Don Bosco Park Circus. Let me tell you, that no school of the stature of La Martinere and Don Bosco would even think of inviting the ignominy that a suicide of its student would bring along. We are not talking about 4th grade suburban schools here where the teachers themselves do not have a college degree and hence treat their students like slaves. We are talking about a school which has consistently churned out champions year after year and made our city and nation proud.

I fully empathize with the Rawla family and accept the fact that their son will never come back. Their fulmination of emotions is totally justified. However, the lesson to be learnt from this, especially for parents who still have their sons going to school is, to teach them to receive rebuke and scolding constructively, so that they can rectify their mistakes and evolve as a stronger individual. Do not hold the school responsible if your son is mentally so feeble that he cannot even take the pain of a 5-second caning. Otherwise, they will never be battle-hardened to face the more demanding struggles that life would offer them - when they join college and eventually when they step into the ruthless corporate environment.