Once, the childhood used to be without worry… Or at least we thought
so.
Many of us have fond memories of ‘that golden era’ when every morning
we had a clean canvas to color it afresh. We did not remember the scolding
that was part and parcel of what they call growing up.
And peer pressure, where was thou?
Yes, we had ups and downs like all of our near and dears. We wept,
we fought… and oh, we cried alone at times. Yet, all those were just bad moments…
that we were able to overcome. After all we had games to play, friends to
share, and family to care.
It still happens with children. They tend to forget the reprimands.
They do mistakes again and again. And they enjoy like we grown up once had …
Yet, the stress has entered into their psyche…
Yes, the depressed child has arrived and is here to stay for long.
Competition, over-ambitious parents, peer pressure, lack of
emotional support, and maybe media-explosion that provides over-exposure to the
already burdened child - these and many
more such factors are responsible.
Or is it called Growth…From collective to more individualistic
society… where pressure on the individual to perform better starts at an early
age...
Are our schools equipped to handle it?
The suicides by school-going children, which were once almost
non-existent, have started making headlines.
Suicide is the extreme step, but what about the common depression
that is so rampant nowadays. Has our schools ever tried to gauge its intensity
and to find a remedy…?
Perhaps a few educational institutions have the time or energy to
think in this direction, except some big and branded ones. They also sometimes
do it just for formality sake, by having a part-time counselor who is mainly
focused on advising about the career avenues. The emotional support takes a
backseat most of the time.
So, what will happen to the depressed child?
Will she be able to flourish and contribute as per her capability? Or
will she become a liability? Or worse, will she try to end her life in a weak
moment, if there is no channel to release the tension… Such is an extreme scenario
but sometimes it happens making a news headline.
What can we do? - This may be the standard response.
But, do we know if any depressed child lives in our home?
Do we try to check? Do we have the patience to at least listen to
him or her?
