Dec 25, 2023

Can anti-suicidal devices prevent suicides?

Back in 2000, when I was in the first year of intermediate course after schooling, was when I first encountered a situation that made me ask myself if anti-suicidal devices prevent suicides! There was a student who committed suicide by hanging herself to the fan. After few weeks, another student jumped off from top floor, to death. In the next few days, the management had installed iron mesh to the balconies of the our hostel. In those days, no one managed to invent the anti-suicidal fans, otherwise they would have installed them as well. Just like how the anti suicidal fans have been installed in some of the hostels in Kota, Rajasthan, after a few students took their lives succumbing to the JEE-stress. Here I ask again, can anti-suicidal devices prevent suicides? May be they will reduce the number of cases happen due to that particular device, but in totality they won't. Everyone is aware of this simple fact, but not many seem bothered. They just don't want it to happen in their hostel or apartment. It can very well continue in the neighborhood

So much of stress the JEE aspirants especially go through that it's nearly impossible with the current way of affairs to prevent the suicides. Competition is huge, seats are less. Again, increasing the seats is not the solution that I think is ideal. Making the students believe that if not JEE, there are many means of proving oneself, many ways of living a dream life. This doesn't mean one must not aspire to be cracking the JEE, but if one cannot do that, the world doesn't end. Students to get this incepted thoroughly in their minds and hearts. Who can do that? Parents, teachers, professors, mentors, friends and many more can actually take ahead this thinking through the minds and hearts of the aspirants. 

Whoever says whatever, at the end of the day one needs to have their own thinking in a certain way to stand up and face the results. 

Commercialized education has succeeded in making students fragile year after year, decade after decade, so much so that they won't have any other thought than taking their own lives upon failure. 

Fantasized wishes of parents have succeeded in pushing their children to the corner, from where they see no one to share what they are going through or thinking about. 

Innovative products are now being looked at to prevent the suicides. After all , people who are thinking so are also the products of the same education system!

Nothing is in stars, it's all in our minds. 

Parents must take first steps to not let their children feel cornered if they don't crack competitive exams. 

Teachers must stand by the students irrespective of their merit. After all, every student is unique. 

Government must take steps towards eradicating the commercialization in education. Must improve the quality of colleges, teaching staff, teaching aids and many more necessities to make sure students get opportunities to explore their interests and strengths. 

Friends must cheer up each other beyond the ranks, grades and all those materialistic things that are relative in nature, but don't demonstrate the capabilities of any of their friends. 

One must be strong from within to give it all to something that's desired but stay strong in the situation takes it away. 

Not anti-suicidal devices, but improving the thinking methodology can definitely prevent suicides. This needs collective efforts of all the stakeholders. 

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