Mental health matters

Piali Banerjee teaches English in the International Baccalaureate programme at a private high school in Mumbai. She has authored three books for children, all of which take an innovative and personal look at history. She has also had a stint in journalism at The Times of India and Mumbai Mirror, where she focussed on writing features that looked at people and issues with empathy and humour. At present she is having a great time trying to instil a love for learning and literature among teenagers. Although she is a teacher by profession, she firmly believes that she is a student at heart. LESS ... MORE
We all remember those Physical Training (or Painful Training, as we fondly called our PT classes) in school. All those laps around the ground, while still trying to keep the lungs functioning; those bends and twists and stretches that got our collective knickers in a twist. Oh yes, our schools sure know how to keep their students physically fit and healthy.
It's just that most often our system falters when it comes to keeping students mentally fit and healthy.
And that is probably needed more urgently. Most students find their own rhythm to keep physically fit as they grow up, badgered in varying degrees by mothers, peers, society aunties (functioning in a society where 'fat' is a politically incorrect word) and that slinky anonymous body called social media. But, to deal with all of the above, students need to be mentally fit too.
Yes, students do talk of 'mean' teachers, but very few discuss their 'cruel' peers at the dining table. And I am deliberately differentiating 'meanness' from 'cruelty'. As a teacher, one has seen this cruelty up close and personal.
One has seen a youngster's backpack being held up for inspection in a class full of students by a sneering peer, with the words, 'Hey, does anyone want to see what a fake Adidas bag looks like?'
I call them 'words', but they are actually shrapnel that leave the target shredded and bleeding. Yet these wounds are never discussed at the dining table. These wounds are not seen by parents or teachers or school counsellors. These wounds are dealt with alone, processed through lonely tears.
One has seen students being mocked at for acne, so much so that those being mocked pretend to sleep in class, so that they don't have to sit up and present their flawed face to their peers. One has seen students being trolled on social media by an entire batch, for their skin colour or their unwaxed legs or for reading Dostoevsky. (The last one is not a made-up scenario, one has seen it happen.)
But these students don't breathe a word of this either to their parents or to the school counsellor. In fact, most kids do not want to be seen entering that socially branded door of a counsellor. They try to cope by isolating themselves.
Some kids cope by turning on their peers, often violently. In which case the school ends up having to punish the victim of mockery, rather than the mockers. In rare, very rare, cases, has one seen a child systematically neutralise their tormentors through words and body language alone. It has been done, with the said victim topping every class; discussing every writer, (Dostoevsky or otherwise) that she wished to, with her teachers; and stretching out her unwaxed legs with a defiant smile. But this salvo must have taken extraordinary effort and courage – which the rest of us mortals often cannot muster up. So where is the average kid to go? More important, to whom can the average kid go?
Since lecturing has never worked with teenagers, practical workshops are, perhaps, a way forward. These workshops can be conducted by teachers or guest experts. Empathy games, or even just a social circle time where pertinent questions are discussed, may help to at least open up those Pandora's boxes which are otherwise kept tightly sealed. Questions like: How does social media affect our ability to feel empathy? Is there an experience where you wished someone actually understood how you felt? Or even the simplistic: What would you say to a classmate who was feeling sad? It's surprising how much baggage emerges in these sessions.
A school that I taught at once, came up with an idea to provide emotional support to its students. All teachers were allotted a dozen students, whose mental wellbeing was his or her responsibility – creating a warm bond with these students, checking in on them regularly, providing an empathetic ear, just letting them know that they had a solid support person at school. It was an experiment that worked very well in some groups, moderately well in others and failed to take off in some groups. Yet, it is an idea that is worth a try.
The point is to keep dialogue always open. The point is to let kids know that they always have at least one person to go to, in times of emotional stress.
P.S: Any more ideas on how we can achieve this?
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author's own.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indian Express

13 hours ago

• Indian Express

9 dead in car-truck collision on NH-18; victims were headed to Jharkhand from Bengal's Purulia

Nine people died in a head-on collision on National Highway 18 in West Bengal's Purulia district on Friday morning. The accident, near Namsol Primary School in the Balarampur police station area, involved a car carrying nine passengers and a truck which was reportedly being driven at a high speed. 'We have registered a case of rash driving. The truck driver fled from the spot. We are trying to trace him,' DSP (Headquarters) Nirmal Das told The Indian Express. According to officials, a Bolero car was traveling from Purulia to Jharkhand when it was hit by a truck coming from the opposite direction. The impact completely wrecked the car, and both vehicles reportedly overturned. All nine occupants of the Bolero were rushed to the nearest health centre, where doctors pronounced them dead. The police have taken the truck into custody and have launched an investigation. Eight of the deceased have been identified as Biru Mahato, Ajay Mahato, Vijay Mahato, Swapan Mahato, Gurupad Mahato, Shashank Mahato, Chitta Mahato, Krishna Mahato, all residents of Tilai Tand village in Lakadi under Neemdih police station. The ninth victim, Chandramohan Mahato, was a resident of Raghunathpur, also under Neemdih police station. Sources said they were returning home to Jharkhand after attending a wedding ceremony in Purulia. The accident follows another road accident a day ago in Howrah district. 'Three persons died and several people were injured. A private bus, operating on the Bagnan-Shyambazar route, left the Bagnan bus terminus approaching the Library More on NH-16, and was attempting to move towards the Kolkata-bound lane when it was hit by a Kolaghat-bound truck,' said an official of Howrah. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took to X on Friday: 'My heart goes out to the families of the victims who tragically lost their lives in the two consecutive horrific road accidents; yesterday in Bagnan; Howrah district and today at Balarampur; Purulia district.' He blamed the 'alarming deterioration of road safety standards in West Bengal under the supervision of the West Bengal police, which falls directly under the purview of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.' Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics. With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences. Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More

Scroll.in

15 hours ago

• Scroll.in

Supreme Court stopped ‘bulldozer justice', executive cannot be judge and jury: CJI Gavai

Highlighting that the Supreme Court had held so-called bulldozer justice to be illegal, Chief Justice BR Gavai on Wednesday said that the 'executive cannot become judge, jury and executioner all at once', The Times of India reported. The chief justice said that the right to shelter was a fundamental right, PTI reported. There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. In November, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments. On Wednesday, referring to the judgement, Gavai said: '…the court held that such arbitrary demolitions, which bypass legal processes, violate the rule of law and the fundamental right to shelter under Article 21'. Gavai also said that for common citizens, building a house was 'often the culmination of years of hard work, dreams and aspirations', The Times of India reported. 'A house is not just a property but embodies the collective hopes of a family or individuals for stability, security and a future,' the chief justice added. The chief justice made the comments at a gathering of judges in Italy where he spoke about the role of the Constitution in delivering socio-economic justice.

Business Standard

16 hours ago

• Business Standard

Doctor threatens to crash Air India Express flight, deboarded in Bengaluru

A 36-year-old doctor was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly threatening to crash an Air India Express flight from Bengaluru to Surat, leading to a two-hour delay and a security scare. The incident involved a heated dispute over cabin baggage placement, according to a report by The Times of India. The passenger was identified as Vyas Hiral Mohanbhai, a resident of Shivanahalli near Yelahanka, who was travelling alone with two bags. Passenger refuses to comply with crew, issues mid-air threat According to police, the Ayurvedic doctor bypassed the check-in counter and insisted on carrying both bags into the cabin. Once on board, she left one bag near the crew cabin and took the other to her seat (20F), violating airline baggage protocol. When the cabin crew asked her to store the bag in the overhead bin above her seat, she refused and demanded that the crew take responsibility for it. Despite repeated instructions from both the crew and the captain, she refused to comply and became verbally abusive. Fellow passengers attempted to calm her down, but she reportedly shouted at them as well. At one point, she allegedly threatened to crash the aircraft if the crew moved her bag. CISF intervenes as captain raises security alert The captain subsequently alerted security, and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were called to the aircraft. They boarded the plane and escorted Mohanbhai off the flight. The disturbance lasted from approximately 2.45 pm to 5.30 pm on June 17, as per a complaint filed by Agnimitra Bahinipati, associate manager of security at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). Doctor remains disruptive at police station Police said the woman's disruptive behaviour continued at the KIA police station, where she allegedly abused and manhandled officers. 'This was the first time we heard such abusive language in the station,' a senior officer said. Her husband, who works at an educational institution in Bengaluru and is originally from Odisha, told police that she had stopped practising medicine and was on her way to Gujarat to visit family. He also confirmed that she had caused disturbances in public places previously. Authorities are now verifying her background.