City helplines gear up to help distressed parents, students
Records show anxiety calls received are more from the parents than the students….Priya Ramakrishnan
Records show anxiety calls received are more from the parents than the students….Priya Ramakrishnan
Mumbai: With the HSC results to be declared on Thursday, the anxiety levels of more than two lakh students in the city are at an all time high. And to deal with the expectations, apprehensions, failures and tensions of the students and the parents, the psychiatrists and the helplines in the city are all geared up.
As per the records of the helplines, the anxiety calls received are more from the parents than the students. Smriti Patel (name changed), a Samaritan Helpline volunteer explains, “Several calls are received from worried parents of children who have score less than satisfactory marks. Their grave concern is whether their child will seek admission in a good college or no. The intention, mainly, is to share the fears, than to seek answers.”
Harish Shetty, psychiatrist, opines that the focus of the students has now shifted from their HSC scores to the scores of the entrance exams. “I get many anxiety calls before the entrance exams results are out. HSC has become of very little importance to students, mainly from the science stream,” said Shetty. He states that students from commerce and arts stream generally have queries with regards to the choice of career and college.
Harish Shetty, psychiatrist, opines that the focus of the students has now shifted from their HSC scores to the scores of the entrance exams. “I get many anxiety calls before the entrance exams results are out. HSC has become of very little importance to students, mainly from the science stream,” said Shetty. He states that students from commerce and arts stream generally have queries with regards to the choice of career and college.
But, there are few who feel that they are ill-equipped. Antonio Rodrigues, director, Samaritans admits, “We have only 15 volunteers. Even though, there will be a marked rise in the calls from students, we will be unable to operate for more than six hours a day.”
“A week before the exam results are out, our phone doesn’t stop ringing. We get around 80 to 100 calls a day during the high stress period,” says Johnson Thomas, director, Aasra, a 24-hour helpline which usually gets the highest number of calls during the time of results. In a bid to create awareness, Aasra conducted several workshops in city colleges and schools. “But, there are very few such helplines to lend a patient ear to students,” he states.
Helplines
Samaritan Helpline32473267 (3 pm to 9 pm)
Aasra Helpline27546669 (24-hr)
Disha Counselling Centre24384575, 9819478538
Sukoon Counselling Centre3675688/3621072
Counsellors say…
Parents should avoid being authoritative after learning their child has scored less. The child is already suffering from stress; it will only aggravate the issue
Online results should be accessed by both a parent and the child
No sarcastic comments should be passed
If the child is irritable and sad, it is better to meet a friendly psychologist