Children in a whirlpool of despair

Editorial-February 25, 2014

Most Sri Lankans seem to have a death wish, which is evident in the way they drive, ride, cross roads, gobble up heaps of junk food and chugalug drinks injurious to health. It may be their obsession with death that has sent Sri Lanka’s suicide rate through the roof.

The last few weeks have seen several tragic incidents where students took their lives, the latest being a teenage girl’s self-immolation on Tuesday. The media stands accused of ‘promoting suicide’ in that wide publicity such incidents receive acts as a spur to suicide, according to experts. UPFA MP Dr. (Mrs) Sudharshani Fernandopulle has faulted the media for sensationalising suicide and thereby contributing to a copycat phenomenon. Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana has also lambasted the media for ‘romanticising suicide’. Yes, there is nothing romantic or heroic about suicide. The journalistic fraternity should take their views on board.

Two of the recent incidents of suicide had to do with Facebook and, therefore, it is being argued in some quarters that the so-called social utility connecting people should be blocked in this country like in China and North Korea. The government, too, has conveniently passed the blame on to Facebook and sought to find a political solution to a vexed psychosocial problem.

Given half a chance the government will plunge feet first into imposing a blanket ban on social media networks as they have been manipulated by western government to engineer social upheavals and regime changes in some parts of the world. However, it should be granted that the abuse of Facebook has taken a heavy toll on society and something needs to be done about it. But, the question is whether haphazard bans will yield the desired results. If banning as a solution is ever adopted, where will it end? Won’t we have to prohibit the Internet and mobile phones as well because they, too, are abused and have become tools in the hands of anti-social elements preying on children?

In this country, mental health and dental health are neglected. We keep pointing out in these columns that the number of psychiatrists we have is woefully inadequate—about 50 to cater to a population of over 20 million. Most schools are without trained counsellors to help children with mental problems. Given the heavy burden our education system has placed on children, it is a miracle that they remain sane!

If the Facebook related issue that led to a schoolgirl’s suicide in Kurunegala recently had been tactfully handled with the help of a competent counsellor disaster could have been averted. She obviously needed help. It is only natural that youngsters who hurtle down a spiral of despondency without anyone to turn to mistakenly seek solace in suicide. Children have plunged from the upper floors of school buildings and hanged themselves in school toilets, but precious little has been done to prevent suicide among children. There has been only endless talk; everybody gets excited only when a spike occurs in the suicide rate.

Increasing incidence of suicide among children, we believe, cannot be blamed on one or two factors such as the abuse of Facebook or the ubiquitous mobile phone. It is multi-factorial and the tackling of it requires a multi-sectoral and multi-pronged strategy devised with the help of experts drawn from various fields. A parliamentary select committee is called for if a lawmaker ever so much as complains of, to put it euphemistically, stomach rumbling. But, there has been no such urgency on the part of legislators over the serious issue of suicide among children. Dr. Fernandopulle, an experienced physician and mother, ought to impress on the government the need for swinging into action without trying to absolve itself of the responsibility for the sad state of affairs.

What is urgently needed is psychological help for children who need to be prepared to face various challenges in life without taking their lives besides identifying dangers and avoiding them in cyber space as well as in the real world.