With the suicide of a high school girl in the West District, the number of students who have ended their lives over the past year has reached 18. The director general of the Education Ministry’s office acknowledges that counseling units are performing poorly.
According to a report by “Khabar Online” yesterday (June 8), a 16-year-old girl hanged herself after her final exam in the second year of high school.
According to the report, after her literature exam and taking a commemorative photo with her classmates and teachers, the girl hanged herself in the school’s restroom.
This is the 18th suicide resulting in death among students from June of last year until now. There are no statistics available regarding the number of students who have attempted suicide during this period but survived.
Five Students Commit Suicide in One Month
Yesterday’s incident in the West District was the fifth reported suicide among students from April 5 until now and the third case in Tehran.
Two of the fatal suicides in 2016 occurred in the final days of April in Mashhad, with the victims being girls aged 12 and 18.
Depression, distress, and nervous stress resulting from failure in the university entrance exam and academic failures have been cited as among the causes of student suicides.
Regarding the reason for the 12-year-old Mashhad girl’s suicide, some media outlets reported, citing her father: “This student was expelled from school for one week because she brought an item she shouldn’t have to school, and due to fear of her father’s punishment, she attempted suicide.”
Increase in Depression and Mental Disorders
Following the increase in suicide attempts among students and media coverage of such incidents, discussions have been raised about the shortcomings of the Education Ministry and the lack and weakness of counseling units in schools.
Mohammad Fazel, director general of the Education Ministry’s office, told the Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the judiciary, on Tuesday, June 18: “Counseling units in education are performing poorly, but not all responsibility for student suicide falls on the shoulders of this ministry.”
When asked why the education counseling units do not play an active role in identifying students with psychological and mental problems, he stated: “It is not logical that only the Education Ministry should be held responsible for student suicides. Many social factors contribute to this problem.”
MohammadReza Farahani, deputy for student and cultural affairs at the Health Ministry, had said on April 28 of last year in a gathering of journalists that the number of students who have suffered from depression in recent years and the number of suicides that have occurred at the peak of depression have increased in a concerning manner.
In recent years, suicide has been increasing in Iran. Along with depression and psychological and mental disorders, unemployment, poverty, lack of security, and lack of a bright outlook for the future, as well as social problems and abnormalities, are considered among the main reasons for this trend.
According to a report by ILNA news agency, Anushirvan Mohseni Bandpey, head of the Welfare Organization, announced in December of last year in a meeting of senior managers of the organization that 34 percent of Iranians between the ages of 19 and 60 suffer from mental disorders.
Source: DW
