Teen years are supposed to be among the best years of our life, but the pressure on young students these days often see some very unhappy and abrupt endings.
A young girl killed herself in Delhi after failing to get into an institution she desperately wanted. Sadly, it's not an isolated case but one that has reverberations across the country.
Eighteen-year-old Kritika jumped to her death from the building where she stayed.
The family has told the police that reason she committed suicide was because she did not get admission in psychology honours in her preferred college. The cut off was 94.25 per cent, whereas she got 92 per cent.
Kritika's case highlights the disturbing trend of teenage suicides. According to Health Ministry report, there have been 16,000 deaths in three years. Reasons -- exam failures, peer pressure or not scoring enough marks.
Experts say as competition grows depression creeps in and most of the time the warning signs are ignored.
One such case is that of a Class XII student in Delhi Rishika who had a tough time coping with studies.
"I used to cry a lot and locked myself in the room. I did not tell my parents about the pain for a long time. I used to be absent a lot due to this, and when I would come back my teachers used to say that I was shirking studies," she said.
"Nowadays children are so focussed even in Class XII that they have defined a path which is not realistic. Our educational system has not evolved with time. Children have not learnt to cope with any real problems," said Naveen Kumar, a psychologist.
Psychologists say parents and teachers should watch out for any behavioural changes in teenagers.
