31 children died by suicide every day in India in 2020

An average 31 children died by suicide every day in India in 2020 according to government data with experts underlining that the Covid19 pandemic may have accentuated the psychological trauma faced by children to a great extentAccording to the National Crime Records Bureau data 11396 children died by suicide in 2020 an 18 per cent rise from 9613 such deaths in 2019 and 21 per cent rise from 9413 in 2018Family Problems 4006 Love Affairs 1337 and Illness 1327 were the main causes of suicide among children below 18 years of age Ideological causes or hero worshipping unemployment bankruptcy impotency or infertility and drug abuse were other reasons behind suicide by some childrenPrabhat Kumar Deputy Director Child Protection Save the Children said COVID19 and the resultant school closures and social isolation coupled with anxiety among elders have further aggravated the issue of mental health and brought it to the forefrontWhile we as a society are cognisant of tangibles such as education and physical health for building national human capital emotional wellbeing or psychosocial support often takes a back seat The successively increasing number of suicides among children reflects a systemic failure It is a collective responsibility of parents families neighbourhoods and government at large to provide a conducive ecosystem where children can look forward to realizing their potential and fulfilling their dreams for a bright future Committing suicide on the contrary is an antithesis Mr Kumar told PTIStigma attached to mental health and an abysmally low number of per capita mental health professionals demand urgent attention COVID19 and the resultant school closures and social isolation coupled with anxiety among elders has further aggravated the issue and brought it to the forefront Save the Children calls for a collective action to nurture an encouraging and supportive ecosystem for children and youth he addedCommenting on the topic Priti Mahara Director Policy Research and Advocacy at CRYChild Rights and You said from the very beginning of the pandemic it was one of the major concerns that it might impact childrens mental health and psychosocial wellbeing and the recent NCRB data actually underscores the fear that the pandemic may have accentuated the psychological trauma faced by the children to a great extentAs the NCRB data reveals a total of 11396 children 5392 boys and 6004 girls have died by suicide in 2020 which accounts for 31 deaths per day or approximately 1 child committing suicide per hour she told PTIChildren have gone through tremendous emotional stress and trauma due to home confinement and lack of interaction with friends teachers or any other person in the position of trust due to prolonged closure of schools and limited social interactions she saidMany of them have been through hostile environment at home many others have seen demise of their loved ones and have faced the impact of fear of contagion and deepening financial crisis at the family level she saidMany children have also experienced huge uncertainty related to completion of curriculum exams and resultsA huge number of children especially the ones living under the shadows of multidimensional poverty struggled with attending online classes and were majorly impacted by the digital divide while many others suffered from overexposure to internet and the social media and were subjected to online bullying and allied cybercrimes she saidAll of these compounded with an overall anxiety of the uncertainty of the future must have been too much to bear for their young and tender minds she addedAkhila Sivadas Executive Director Centre For Advocacy and Research said alternative care and counselling models have to be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and every effort should be made to take the learnings to a crosssection of society so that everyone takes the responsibility to curb this practiceMental health expert Prakriti Poddar Managing Trustee at Poddar Foundation said parents must understand how fragile their childrens mental wellbeing is and be proactive in assessing itTeachers also need to be trained in identifying symptoms and patterns of mental issues Apart from that educational institutions must have psychological counselling programmes in place to help students deal with their issues in confidentiality Every child has a different coping mechanism Therefore the counselling programmes must be flexible to cater to the needs of each child individually If needed a student must be referred to a mental healthcare professional for timely intervention Mr Poddar saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever