The mental health of your child is no longer a soft issue

Teena Baruah, mother of a six-year-old studying in Apeejay School, Delhi, has started a WhatsApp group to stay in touch with mothers of other kids in her daughter’s class. “There are so many issues plaguing school children that we have to be constantly in touch with each other and discuss solutions to problems that they face these days,” says Baruah.

The “issues” that she alludes to are way more complex than what her generation had to deal with as kids.

Besides the pressure of academic performance, there’s peer behaviour, interpersonal communication, sexual awareness and relationship issues. And all of this comes together in a potent mix of stress that leads to depression and mental health problems in children. In fact, in emotionally-charged situations, it could even drive a child to contemplate suicide.

The situation makes a compelling case for student counsellors in schools. In fact, it has been about 18 months since the CBSE, the largest school board in India, directed all affiliates to hire at least one full-time counsellor.

But, schools in India still fall woefully short on such support staff. “Although the CBSE’s step is in the right direction, it seems like eyewash due to the sheer number of counsellors that schools need these days. While people are taking up counselling as a profession, there is just too big a gap between supply and demand of counsellors,” says Reena Gupta, a certified educational therapist who works with several reputed schools.

Industry body Assocham, in a recent survey of 3,200 Delhi-NCR schools, found that a meagre three per cent of the private schools in the area have counsellors.

“There is definitely a rise in the number of kids going to psychologists. Stress keeps building up from a younger age and explodes around 15-16,” she adds.

In fact, 16-year-old Madhura Dasgupta says, “I fear that if I get 95 per cent marks in class 12, I still may not get my choice of college. I am also part of the cultural society in school because marks alone are not enough in this age of competition. Then there are relationship issues too. Sometimes we just want somebody to listen to us.”

Baruah points out that counselling among students facilitates better communication. “Very often the kid is unable to express his feelings to his parents, so the role of a counsellor becomes very important,” she says.

Apart from a shortage of good hands, the professional standard of counsellors is also a problem. There are not enough quality courses for those interested in this field and anyone with a certificate is eligible to become a counsellor, claims Gupta.

A student at a reputed school in South India had an unfortunate incident when the counsellor at his school, whom he confided in, discussed his problems with colleagues and the word got out.

“My child was shattered as his trust was violated. He left the school and I wrote a long letter to the Principal about this,” said the student’s mother, who did not wish to be named.

“Mental health among children is considered a soft issue in India with not much research happening locally. There is only Western research that we follow without adapting or tweaking it for the Indian set up. Our cultures are different hence our solutions also need to be different,” Gupta explains.