Cases of student suicides have been making headlines in Kolkata since the past week. It first started with a class 10 student of G.D. Birla school committing suicide by cutting her wrist inside the toilet. She was found an hour later from when she excused herself from class to go to the washroom. Yesterday, another student from Kolkata’s Balika Shiksha Sadan school tried to slit her wrist in the washroom. Thankfully, she was rescued by the staff on time.
Kolkata: A girl student tried to slit her wrist with a blade in Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan School’s washroom. School staff rescued & handed her over to parents after primary treatment. #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/TsASC0exue
— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2019
In a step towards wanting to curb this situation, Kolkata’s South City International School is now to keep tabs of washroom breaks. According to a report by The Telegraph, school authorities have decided to maintain a register where students will have to mention in-and-out timings whenever they use the washroom, starting from 1 July.
“We will implement the rule from next Monday because we need more hands outside the washrooms (both boys and girls) to maintain the register. If anything goes wrong, the school should know where the child is,” Principal John Bagul said.
This decision was made considering how washrooms are generally the go-to place for students when they are trying to cope/hide from uncomfortable situations like bullying and emotional distress. Pranks on students inside washroom are also well heard of.
School authorities feel that this step is to take “accountability” for their student’s safety. Even if this doesn’t ensure a 100% that students won’t harm themselves, it is definitely a start to prevent it.
The school is also launching the ‘Extra Mile Programme’ in which a pair of teachers will be going on home-visits for students of class 1, 9, and 11, for now, to check on their respective family lives.
“We know there are dysfunctional families and we intend to pay a visit to see the family set-up and the home environment so that we can help students better”, the Principal said.
It’s time for institutes to take it up a notch in ensuring the safety of their students – both physical and emotional. A child coming from disjointed families or having bitter life experiences is prone to mental illness/depression which could drive them towards suicide. Initiatives like these are definitely a good start.