Punishments in schools today have crossed the limits of decency and surpassed sensitivity even in the case of children studying in lower grades. Teachers make students think about their mistakes by subjecting them to extreme punishments and humiliation like making them stand on benches.
They do not stop to think that the children may not be able to handle such extreme humiliation in front of the entire class which could lead them to take drastic steps in an attempt to escape the situation.
This is exactly what happened to a boy of Class 5 who committed suicide by consuming poison on September 15, after he was made to stand on the bench continuously for three hours, in school.
As reported by Hindustan Times, the incident occurred in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, where the 11-year-old, Navneet Prakash, was made to stand up on the bench by a teacher in Saint Antony’s Convent School. He was also debarred from giving his exams by the teacher.
India Today also reported that the father of the child, Ravi Prakash, said that the boy seemed upset after he returned from school. He has also alleged that the teacher Bhavna used to harass the student to join her tuition classes.
The boy quietly went upstairs and came down a few hours later to ask for food , but ate only a little bit. After that he took water in a glass that he had carried with himself from his room. When they heard no movement upstairs, the parents went to check on their child only to find him lying on the bed with foam coming out of his mouth.
The child was immediately rushed to Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead. In a chilling suicide note written in pencil, the child urged his parents to not believe his teacher.
The suicide note said,
“Aaj 15-09-17 mera pehla exam tha. Meri class teacher ne mujhe 9.15 tak rulaya, khada rakha isliye kyunki woh chaapluson ki baat maanti hai.Â
Aaj maine soch liya hai ki main marne wala hoon. Meri aakhri iksha meri ma’am ko kisi bachhe ko itni badi saza na dene ko kahein.”
The family and relatives of the boy were outraged by this and created a ruckus outside the school. They also filed an FIR against the School Manager as well as the Principal in Shahpur police station under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC, following which the police has arrested the teacher, Bhavna. Further investigations are also being conducted.
In these times, the question which crosses our mind is that are our students becoming more sensitive to punishments or are teachers becoming more insensitive to students and their ability to handle punishments? We pray that Navneet’s family finds the strength to deal with the grief of the loss of their child.