By Aishwarya Sharma
CJM School
We have witnessed the unparalleled increase in our daily gross domestic product and a sudden improvement in the quality of education in the recent past. Naturally, everyone’s happy, with such a dawn of opportunities and such an improvement in the arena of schooling. But, who thinks about the aftermath of this sudden and rapid growth in every area? Who has so much of time, and energy to think about the plight of the students who are surrounded by so much of pressure, whether at school, at home, or with peers?
Well, a quick look at some statistics:
65% of India’s population consists of young people ranging from of 13 to 17 years of age.
Out of these, 89% suffer from inferiority complex and anxiety.
And out of the people suffering from anxiety and inferiority complex, 74% have gone into depression and have suicidal tendencies.
We may be happy and satisfied with growth, growth in economy, growth in the quality of education, growth in the facilities provided to students;
But what about the growth in the percentage of people suffering from emotional breakdowns, and overburdening?
The present generation thinks that the youngsters should perform better because of the increase in facilities and augmentation in the field of education since they feel that in their school days, the facilities were not worth it and even then they would be the so- called "high achievers". Then why not the younger generation who gets so many amenities and conveniences?
I wish to inform these people that the definition of "good" has changed manifold in the past years. What was considered "good" before is actually average now. My father was a high achiever in school and he has his name on the toppers list when he got 74% as aggregate. And everyone now knows the present value of 74%. Therefore, these people now want their children to perform "well" in their examination, and "well" is actually more than 90%. And anything less than 90% is worthless for these "high achievers". These high achievers also have their own plans and expectations in front of which the aspirations of the younger generations are considered as futile, and unrewarding. If the students are not able to perform in sync with their parents’ expectations, this adds to the worry of the students as well as parents.
Because of these, the students now feel antagonized, alienated, and disheartened. These negative feelings lead to many psychological problems such as inferiority complex, negative thoughts, and eventually depression.
Moreover, earlier, everything was imposed on these people by their parents without any reconsiderations or contemplations by the parents, and without any rebellions or oppositions by the children. But now, people are getting more aware and educated, so even small things have to be greatly calculated and scrutinized by the parents while the young people sometimes adamantly refuse these impositions by virtue of their own conditions. What these people are actually angry about is the suppression of their voice, and opinions, which naturally are unique, and extraordinary, therefore, this leads to many rebellions, and quarrels between parents and their children.
Another issue of concern is the comparison done by parents between peers be it regarding studies, marks, activities, etc. But this is a major cause behind inferiority complex. This also leads to low self- esteem and misunderstandings between the parents and their children. This is a major contributor to 38% of suicides committed by adolescents every year.
With a gigantic revolution in the Indian economy, many vocational career options are coming up. For example, Journalism, Mass Media, Photography, Food and Nutrition, Biotechnology, Law, Public Relations, Fine Arts, Services, Music, Acting, Filmmaking, to name a few. Yet, the parents have the impression of the very outdated and overrated career fields of Engineering, Medicine, and full stop! And many students are not allowed to make their own career choices according to their capabilities, and aspirations. The parents unknowingly shatter their dreams even before they take flight; even when they are doing this for their child’s welfare, with a good intention.
With an increase in the level of competition, the students are feeling increasingly burdened by all the premonitions that surround their minds. Admissions in colleges, the high cut- off rate in universities, increased quota for Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe reservations and limited seats have really reduced the opportunities for youngsters, leading to many tragic suicide cases.
Today’s youngster wants and is expected to be a complete package: good looks, good grades, good social behaviour; peer pressure is taking its toll and many of the teenagers are not satisfied with their personality despite the fact that everyone is a unique and beautiful creation of God.
Adolescents are reeling under increased partiality and politics in schools, adding to their worries. Ask any specialist, and he/she will tell you that these elements were completely absent during their times. Some of the high achievers may deny this, but I can prove the point that in some ways a modern child has a tough time coping with the incessant pressures offered to him in this rat- race madcap world in front of you. We can see it in the crowd queuing up to see the psychologists; the amount of suicides reported every year, and most importantly the desperate and perplexed visages of the students. All this bears ample testimony to the fact that the youngsters are reeling under tremendous pressures and many are succumbing to them. Its high time people learn to support and encourage us and see us winning this race against time.
