By Akanksha Sharma
School, for a child, is supposed to be a safe space, where they go for a significant portion of their day. The purpose of school is to gain a meaningful education and to be surrounded by peers, teachers and other people, in order to learn how to socialize in a healthy way. A child should never be full of fear and terror at the thought of going to school. If they do feel this way, and consistently, then clearly there is something wrong. Bullying may be one of the reasons that the child is dreading the school day.
The Teacher Foundation, along with Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATIS) conducted a survey in 15 cities all over India, including major metros like Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai. According to the results of the five-year long study, it was found that 42 percent of students in classes 4 to 8 and 36 percent of students in classes 9 to 12 have suffered from bullying. Statistics from the Indian Council for Medical Research, state that between 12 and 13 percent of school students in India suffer from learning, emotional and behavioural problems.
Students who Have Been Bullied Don’t know Whom to Turn Towards
Boys suffer more from physical violence and abuse, at the hands of peers and seniors. Girls suffer more from interpersonal and relational harassment such as rumour mongering, social censure, and relationship destructions. Often, children who are bullied are ashamed of being bullied and are caught in a very confusing situation. They hesitate to tell teachers, because they are doubtful if the teacher will believe them. Teachers are normal people, with normal human tendencies. They may be biased towards or against a particular student. If a student, that a teacher doesn’t like, comes to them with a complaint, then they may not take any action.
Further, even if they take action against the bullies, then the victim is afraid of the consequences of that action. Students don’t want to be perceived as a tattle-tale by their peers, as it can lead to social ostracisation and further bullying. We would think that parents would be natural ears for children, to whom they can confess all their worries and experiences of being bullied. But that’s not true. In many cases, children don’t enjoy a close relationship with their parents. This unfortunate situation leads them to feeling all alone and isolated, as they live in continual fear for their physical and mental health at the hands of bullies.
A Counsellor Should Be an Approachable and Neutral Presence in a School
Students should know that there is a warm, accepting and open-minded neutral person whom they can approach during school hours to share their troubles, worries and concerns with. Ideally, it should be mandatory for each and every student to have a one hour counselling session with the counsellor once every three months at a minimum. There should be open office hours where a student can approach the counsellor, such as a lunch hour or any other designated time frame, without the fear of missing classes. All students should be oriented to the fact that there is a facility of a school counsellor available to them.
But for all these positive outcomes to come about, a school needs to have a counsellor. Indeed, each and every school of India must have a counsellor. The current state is that just a very small 3 percent of private CBSE schools employ counsellors as of now (according to ASSOCHAM). Government schools are in an even more dismal state. This clearly shows that the CBSE guideline which had made it mandatory for CBSE schools to have counsellors, is not effective. There are no punishments or negative consequences associated with the lack of compliance, which could push schools to take actions. On a legal level, what can be done to enforce the same? This is a question that I don’t have answer to, but I dearly hope that people with knowledge of the education system and law can share their thoughts on.
Mental Health is Intimately Linked to Academic Performance
When a student’s mental health is disturbed, that creates a negative ripple effect to all parts of their life, including academic performance. A student suffering from anxiety or depression suffers from loss of focus, distractedness, and disturbed eating and sleeping patterns, amongst many other symptoms. This of course affects their study habits, class attendance, concentration and ultimately their exam results too. This is not to say that academic performance is the factor that matters the most, or that somehow it stands above other things like happiness and safety. However, the reason to emphasize it, is to convince the authorities of its importance. Unfortunately, many schools are focussed solely on their academic results, and if they see counselling or counsellors as a way to improve those results, then they may be more inclined to invest in a counsellor’s position and salary.
Adolescence is the time when Students are Especially Vulnerable to Mental Distress
During adolescence, students are going through a lot of physical, mental and hormonal changes as their brain and their body develop. This makes them prone to mood swings, isolation, and risk-taking behaviour. They begin to question things, and they begin to question their own identity. ‘Who am I?’ Is a question which becomes of increasing importance to them. Problems related to self-acceptance, peer-acceptance, substance abuse, sexual acting-out, body image issues etc. often come up during this tumultuous phase of life. Therefore, having a school counsellor at hand will be like a safety net that students can approach when they are in a time of need.
Conclusion
A good counsellor can equip students with the necessary and critical skills of communicating assertively, standing up to bullies, developing self-confidence and polishing their study skills too. Therefore, it is my opinion that each and every school should have a counsellor, not just as a token gesture or a check-mark, but in the capacity of a first-responder to psychological and mental distress experienced by the vulnerable students.
About the Author
Akanksha Sharma is Founder of Indspire Me, and a Psychological Counsellor and Mental Health Content Specialist. You can reach out to her at akanksha.sharma158@gmail.com or contact her on LinkedIn.
