Pushpanjili. Another name added to the list of teenage suicides of young victims of peer pressure and academic stress.

School, friends, teachers, seniors, competitors… there are already enough forces around to build pressure on your little child. Don’t pile on to it!

Every year, there are at least a dozen cases of student suicide that are reported in newspapers. The graveness of ‘death’ brings these stories to the media. But no one realises that what leads to these consequence is equally grave: frustration, depression, de-motivation, pain, stress, mental disturbances and the feeling of being a loser!

Sadly, we always thing that such traumas happen only to other people’s kids and that our child is ‘normal’, where ‘normal’ means bright enough to deal with the excessive competitive pressure.

But Pushpangili was a topper in school! She was bright and fully capable of building a successful career. Then what killed her?

The world around her!

Everyone needs support to keep going in rough times. If your child is not able to perform, encourage him. Bring him to believe that he is doing pretty well and in time, will cover up to compete at the desired scale.

Let him live up to his own expectations. Don’t keep exorbitant expectations from him. Instead, try to find out what he wants, and give him the freedom to build his talent in the direction likes.

Talk to him about the difficulties he is facing with teachers/peers/subjects. Don’t add to his difficulties by reminding him all that he has not been able to do. Help him cope up with the pressure.

Gain some confidence of your child. If he is not able to confide in you, he will have no where to go in times of need. And this may lead to immature, drastic decisions that you may regret later.

Be careful even when your child seems content. Decisions like suicide are very instantaneous. Your child might not appear very depressed or frustrated, but the pressure may be building inside that will blast off one day if you don’t check in time.

As a mother, you should always be there to help and guide your kids, rather than being another pressure on your child. Understand that your child already has a lot to deal with at this young age. Try and relieve his stress as much as you can with your tender, motherly touch.