Of late emotional distress amongst the students (both in schools and colleges) has become very prominent. National Education Policy 2020, also lays emphasis on the mental and emotional wellbeing of the students. Needless to say that without a healthy mind students are neither able to absorb the classroom subjects nor able to handle the pressures of studies. Towards this the Manodarpan Cell of National Council of Education Research and Training, has conducted a survey to ascertain the mental health state of students. The findings of the survey have been alarming.

The survey covered almost all categories of schools, thereby covering a very broad strata. All types of schools including urban, rural, government run and  privately managed were included. The Survey collected information from students across gender and grades {VI-VIII (middle stage) and IX-XII (secondary stage)} coming from all states and UTs of the country. A total of 3,79,842 students participated in the survey.

The Findings

The findings of the survey should be a cause of concern for all parents. The survey found that 81 % students are under anxiety.  50 % of them expressed that the cause for their anxiety is studies and another 31 % expressed that examinations and results are cause of their anxiety.

Some other concerning statistics that were revealed during the survey are as follows 

In today’s ever changing environment, it is highly important for a person to adapt to the circumstances to be successful in life.  It is disturbing to see that only 43 % of the total respondents admitted being able to quickly adapt to changes. 

An individual’s perception of their physical appearance is an important aspect of self-worth. Dissatisfaction with body image/appearance can have harmful emotional, psychological and physiological effects. Only a little more than half of the respondents expressed being satisfied with their body image.

Peer pressure about studies as well as social status is considered as a prime reason for stress among students. Only 15% of the total respondents expressed not giving in to peer pressure. 33% of the total respondents agreed that they try to please friends most of the times by adhering to what their friends want.

A round 32 % students completely agreed to responding appropriately during stressful situations like bullying and arguing.

Exploring the strategies as resources used by the students to manage the stressful situations reveals that a large section (49%) prefer sharing with friends. Only 24 % showed trust in their parents for sharing their emotions under stressful situations.

All the statistics above and others reported in the survey indicate towards a lower Emotional Quotient amongst the young India. Emotional Intelligence is one skill that can be developed in our children. However this teaching has to be done by the parents and not by teachers, because developing EI starts at an early, as early as two years onwards.

Do you agree that the situation reflected in the report is true ?

Do you agree that we need to take action to save our children from a mental distress situation

 in future ?

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