Increase In Suicide and Crime Among Youth

The headlines of one of the leading newspapers often goes like, “A professor beaten to death by his own students”. Going through such headlines has become a routine affair for us. The country is plagued by many catastrophic, socio-economic issues like poverty, terrorism, illiteracy and corruption. The involvement of the youth in overcoming these problems is of great importance. The youth, in a rising nation like ours, plays a strong role in bringing reforms to restructure the nation. They protest and demand what is best for the nation.

However, lately, in order to earn quick bucks and the need to fulfil their dreams and desires at the earliest, young people have resorted to unlawful means to achieve them. Is the future of the nation becoming its own destructor? According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 44 per cent of the arrested criminals belong to the age group of 10 to 30 years, which is the ‘youth’ There is a section of the youth who have been achieving their goals through unlawful means. Crimes ranging from thefts to kidnapping, murders, rape and sex scandals involve such people. The crime rate has been drastically increasing.

Why has the youth of this nation become so pugnacious? Is it due to under-employment or the lack of law enforcement in the country? On one hand, we are fighting to reduce the minimum age of consumption of alcohol while on the other, we are consuming it, driving recklessly and killing people. We are raising our voices on women’s safety and we are the one raping them. Youngsters belonging to well-to-do families have also been caught in cases of hacking bank accounts. According to leading psychiatrists, the lack of adequate opportunities frustrates young people to an extent where they use any method possible to attain success.

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Many also believe that youngsters who take the path of crime are the troubled ones. This could be true in some of the cases but people in their 20s, committing a murder over who should get a prantha first is something beyond imagination, as seen in an incident that occurred at midnight in a posh area of South Delhi. Such cases are endless. Many cases like sexual assaults and minor rapes go unreported and the youngsters feel free to commit the same again. Even the judicial system shows leniency towards the accused and no stern action is taken.

It is time for the country to revamp its judicial system and processes. Most of the accused are not afraid of being caught after committing the crime. The criminals know that their case will simply pile up with the rest of the cases and by the time the punishment is announced, they might not even exist. Further, the government should take appropriate measures to revive the economy so that employment opportunities are created, not just in metros but in rural areas as well. An alarming report on increasing suicides in India is calling for urgent intervention and rethinking of our system.

What's wrong with Indians? Our country had shown the world the path to eternal happiness. And, now, Indians are an unhappy lot!... If you probe further deeper into reasons, you will see many cultural, genetic and religious factors Young people in India are committing suicide at a much higher rate than in the West, says The Lancet report, entitled Suicide Mortality in India released on June 23, June 2012. The first ever national survey of deaths in India found that some 56 percent of all women who took their own lives in 2010 and 40 percent of men were aged between 15 and 29.

The suicide rates are highest in the 15-29 age groups, peaking in southern states that are considered richer and more developed with better education, social welfare and health care. Opportunities that have come with two decades of economic boom and open markets have also brought more job anxiety, higher expectations and more pressure to achieve, mental health experts said. This is calling for urgent intervention and rethinking of our institution called India or Bharat. Added to it, many suicide cases still go unreported as people hide what is still an illegal act in India.

The higher rates may come from "the greater likelihood of disappointments when aspirations that define success and happiness are distorted or unmet by the reality faced by young people in a rapidly changing society," said Dr. Vikram Patel, one of the report's authors. He also noted online social networking was making "loneliness more common. " He admits his conclusion is conjecture, but says "I cannot think of any more plausible explanation. " People in his neighborhood remember Kunju Shivankutty as a likable youth.

But the 20-year-old, from Manjeri in North Kerala, was troubled deeply by having failed three times to pass the admissions testfor a government-run engineering college. On August 15th, 2011, coinciding with India's Independence Day, Shivankutty wrote a letter to his parents. "I am sorry, Acchan-Amma (Dad-Mum), for not having been a good son. I could not fulfill your dreams for me. I let you down before the relatives. Shame is the only feeling I have at present and I can’t bear it any more. Please forget about me…" Then he hung himself.

His father Parameswaran, a transport companyemployee, had invested heavily in his son's education, hoping the boy could lift the family's circumstances by becoming a career engineer – a sure road to middle-class prosperity. Such familial pressure, however, can push a young person to the breaking point. "The case of failing one's parents, or not succeeding in meeting targets set by the family, is one of the chief reasons for young Malayalis [a Kerala ethnic group] taking the extreme step “I was weak, I thought I could be strong but I was weak! I was so so weak, the fault is my own.

Hope something good happens with my death. I have left the building” These are not words from a Chetan Bhagat best seller though I wish they were. These were the last words of Nitin Kumar Reddy before he flung himself from his hostel roof at IIT Madras. As India celebrates year on year economic growth we have started putting a lot of pressure on our youth. In our rush to win we have crushed the hopes and aspirations of our youth. We have started a race to win at all costs. In 2009, almost 3000 children below the age of 14 committed suicide. If we look at the 15-25 age group the number jumps to 50,000.

But the scariest statistic is that for every successful suicide there are almost 14 unsuccessful attempts. Clearly the youth of our country are in distress. But the symptoms are there to see Toddlers are made to compete in talent shows.

• Teenagers are entering singing and dancing competitions
• High school students go through a grueling schedule to balance school curriculum with preparation for entrances to elite institutions like the IITs.

Who is responsible for this? Who killed Nitin? Some people might say it is the system that is responsible for this, but aren’t we responsible for creating this system.

We are forever drawing comparisons between our children and the others and this is just leading to a unsustainable situation. Is this what we have been reduced to? Is that what we want? To compete and win at all costs. A recent survey showed that almost 85% of parents in urban India do not allow children to take up professions of their choice. This is probably the greatest reason for stress among India’s youth, being stuck in professions that they don’t enjoy or are not suited for. Like I said we all know what the symptoms are, but the challenge is to treat the disease and not the symptom.

How can wechange the situation for our children and the youth of tomorrow? I propose these four steps.

1. Identify- The key is to listen, observe and identify activities that the kids enjoy and are attracted to. Which activity draws them more, what they enjoy doing?
2. Analyze- based on our observations, we need to map the activities and likes of the child to sustainable careers that that activity can sustain. If we are not experts in that field, there is a high possibility that there is someone in our network that will know someone. Also councilors both in school and outside can be used for the same.
3. Decide- Once the mapping has been done, we can decide on a few career choices of the child’s liking and also something where his passion lies.
4. Monitor- Once the decision has been made it is important to monitor the children. Often they grow and once they grow their preferences change, it is important to monitor those changes and incorporate that into their plan. People are usually very good at what they do, once they enjoy it. A good example is cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who enjoys cricket and has been the best for the last 20 years..

A few weeks ago, I got a text from my friend saying that a guy, who had been my classmateduring high school, had committed suicide. I seriously thought that this friend was playing a prank on me. Later I discovered the truth. He did commit suicide. I had always seen this guy to be one with great self-esteem and self-confidence. Then why out of nowhere should he take this decision. That was all people spoke for a couple of months. Everyone had only one question. The same question, to be exact. Why? Now thinking about this issue of suicide, I did a little research and the results I got were too shocking.

Statistics show that every five minutes, someone, somewhere in India, attempts suicide. This makes suicide the third major cause of death. Also, annually more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in India, of which one-thirds are youth. Diverse backgrounds, diverse goals and diverse opinions! But same decision! Today, the youth in India form one of the most vulnerable groups, who on the one hand are expected to be the leaders, the backbone of tomorrow’s India, while on the other hand, are a browbeaten and baffled cluster.

There is an imbalance between the youth population and the limited opportunities for admission in schools and colleges, and specifically in professional courses. This puts the youth under great pressure. First class and second class are hardly adequate results anymore. Parents are helpless too, as both public and private institutions have caused economic burden to them. If you think getting admission is the toughest thing that youth can ever experience, rethink! Placements are another hell. You need to get everything right.

And even after getting placed, the comparison in relation to the pay received, causes all the more pain. A person with the pleasure of working but with limited salary is certainly not welcome in this society. People have come to a point where they are ready to trade their work pleasure for money. Tough deadlines and hectic work atmosphere have taken the lives of many youth. Friendships and relationships have also played equal parts in this gamble for life. Youth are too sensitive to sort any sort of relationship problem.

The problem may be anything; fight with best friends, bitter misunderstanding with girlfriend/ boyfriend followed by an even bitter break-up, family issues with parents fighting over their lives or over financial issues. But the youth are greatly affected. They bundle up all these grievances in their hearts and eventually give their hearts a complete rest so they will never have to face the same, again. I am blaming all. There are plenty of youth who have followed their heart to be what they wanted to be. But the fact that this suicide virus is taking away the lives of millions of youth is alarming.

Something has to be done to cripple it. In battle between the thirst to have their dream life and the urge to fulfill the expectation of the society, many are shattered. While a very few regain their stand, the rest take the ultimate decision of ending their lives. When they have the guts to face the pain of ending their lives for one moment, why aren’t they having the same guts for a moment longer to face the battle? If a person is disturbed, all that has to be done is just talk. Words can do wonders, even help see beyond the mist. And you will never know what marvels are awaiting you!

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