If the constant ringing of the phones at the city’s two most popular helplines for students are any indication, stress levels among students are rising as the date for examinations approaches.
Adi Narain, like most 15-year-olds in the city, for the the past six months has been poring over textbooks, class notes, tuition notes and mock testpapers for 16 hours a day to prepare for the class 10th CBSE board exams, which are due in less than 10 days.
If the constant ringing of the phones at the city’s two most popular helplines for students are any indication, stress levels among students are rising as the date for examinations approaches.
Reena Shah, a volunteer* with Samaritans, a helpline for stressed out students, greeted the caller and slipped into her role as a sounding board for the student at the other end.
The caller had been seeking her help for four years. “He failed in a few subjects in school a few years back and wanted to talk to someone who would listen without being judgemental. He gave me the good news that he had finished studies for his graduate exams,” said Shah.
The volunteers said often the parents were more stressed out than students. “They ask us whether their children will get admission in a good college if they got 70 %. They don’t expect an answer, but want to share their worries,” said Prabhu.
According to them, loneliness and high expectations from peers and parents put undue pressure on youngsters. “I have had calls where the teenagers have been contemplating suicide because they do not have friends to talk to,” she said. Farrokh Jijina, director of Samaritans said there had been a 15 % increase in the number of calls in the past two months.
“The increase in the number of calls has not been dramatic. This could be because helplines have not received the kind of publicity that they should,” he said.
Aasra, a Navi Mumbai-based helpline received 102 calls in January 2007. However, it received 230 calls this year. The helpline received 160 calls in February alone. “Out of these, 43 were made by class 12th students and 27 by class 10th students,” Johnson Thomson, director, Aasra said.
Samaritan Helpline Number - 32473267
(Names of volunteers are changed to protect identity)
r_priya@dnaindia.net
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