Teen suicide

[z3n]

AN Indian teenager killed herself after receiving a mobile phone text message saying she had failed her school leaving exams, although she had actually passed, a report said today.

Full story here (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9650311%255E1702,00.html)

I can't help but think if it wasn't a text message and maybe a test result on a board, things may have worked out diffrent.

[rik]

I have read that teenage suicide rates among Indian youth are the highest in the world, with the females being higher than males. The article stated that grades are the bottom line cause of it and I would think that if they had indeed failed it really wouldn't matter how they found out. But being as terrible as that is, this is even more sad because it may have been her own fault and not them posting her scores incorrectly. Very sad either way.

[edit]
Found this on Slashdot:

Secondary Exam Results In India Mean An SMS Flood
Posted by timothy on Monday May 24, @03:58AM

syrinje writes "The Times of India reported that Indian high-school seniors who took the exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education sent more than a Million SMS messages within a 11 hour period to query the result database and receive detailed examination results. In addition making the results available to cellphone users, the CBSE has also published the results online at a dedicated web-site . Since the results were announced on the weekend, students would otherwise have had to wait for Monday to get their results from their schools. A spokesperson for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited , one of the operators involved in setting up the SMS result system estimated that they handled 100,000 messages per hour during the day on Sunday and said that "There was no problem in the network due to the heavy SMS traffic and we were able to give subjectwise marks to the students"."

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/24/0325233

[Big Booger]

This is a tragedy that should never happen. But without proper support and some counseling, children the world over who are in a stressful environment where competition for jobs are critical, suicide reaches epic size and scope.

I'd say they should revise the grade giving policy and do away with the SMS system, if this is systemic.

In Japan, grades are treated like medical histories here.. it's top secret and private. I'd say though that this girl would have wacked herself regardless of the method of delivery, but who knows really what impact a more personal approach would have made.

[rik]

I agree BB...it should be private, but in the end when facing the disapproval of family and/or friends the result could be the same.

[Big Booger]

Spot on Rik. That is why the job of a parent and teacher are critical. You have to pick up on subtle signs of depression and suicidal tendencies.. But without a doubt, nothing is foolproof.

A shame when someone so young with loads of potential perishes at their own hand.. I feel for their family.

[Dutchwall]

ouch too bad she killed herself :( i know from a few countries that you must have good results otherwise you are nothing, but killing yourself..... no that's something which goes too far!

[z3n]

I still can't help but think that a pulic board on campus, can be viewed with teh support of friends and fellow classmates (and yes maybe some humiliation). But if one does decide to "top" ones-self as a result of a poor score, walking out of the school and catching a bus home would hopefully give some time to reflect.

[chicagoSun]

I remeber the part in Bowlling for Columbine where Michael Moore is interviewing one of the creators of the cartoon SouthPark.

The guys talking about elemntary and highschool pressure to get good grades. Your told how miserable your life will be whithout them. And then you get into the real world and find out they were all full of shit.

[PoopSmith]

That is just awful, dude. I'm glad I don't care that much about grades.