Is school pressure forcing kids to flee?

The growth in the number of children running away from home has become a cause of concern, not only for parents and the police, but also for the city’s schools and educationists.

Police investigation has revealed that in a large number of cases, the children had run away because they were unable to cope with the pressure to do well at school.

The police have been able to trace some of the children who have gone missing. Aniket Patel, 14, a student of Jay Somnath School in Khokhra; Abdul Rashid, 13, studying in a madrassa in Dholka; and one Jayesh Chaudhari (name changed), 14, student of a school near Mansi crossroads had all run away but were fortunately traced by the police.

Talking about the children’s failure to cope with academic pressure, Aniket’s father, Manu Patel, said his son was scolded by one of his teachers for not doing his math homework. After that, Aniket had become depressed.

“He used to worry what his teacher would say if he failed to do his homework. He got so frustrated that he decided to leave home and, one day, got into an Okha-bound train from Maninagar,” said Manu Patel, who was able to bring his son back from Okha railway station. What a teacher thinks about him is important for a child as teachers are the first role-models for children outside their homes. Child psychologist Dr Pooja Pushkarna said that, after parents, their teachers are most important people for children during childhood.

“Hence, when his favourite teacher scolds a child, he tends to feel sorry for his actions more intensely than may be warranted by his lapse. What the child experiences is more like remorse,” Pushkarna said.

(With inputs from Kinjal Desai)