After student’s death, experts call for collective efforts on sensitising youth to social media use

The death of a 17-year-old student by suicide has once again called for collective efforts from school authorities and parents on sensitising the youth to the proper use of social media platforms. The victim, a Class XI student of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, was accused of using social media against his teachers.

Despite awareness efforts, the youth are finding the social media a better way to discuss their problems or to give vent to their anger, claimed local teachers. According to sources, a majority of the local schools are facing the problem of fake social media accounts being used by students to make accusations against teachers as well as school authorities. Many such accounts carry objectionable posts and pictures of school officials.

“This is a very sensitive matter. We, at schools, do sensitise our students to the pros and cons of social media usage. However, the parents should also come forward and track the activities of their children. The schools conduct various seminars and make students aware about use of the social media. It’s up to them how they use it, in a right way or a bad way. The parents should keep a track on their children’s social media activity,” said HS Mamik, president, Independent Schools Association (ISA), Chandigarh.

Moral responsibility

"This incident has again brought to the focus the moral responsibility of schools to guide students on how to use social media conscientiously, in an endeavour to make a positive impact on the world. Social media should be utilised for meaningful communication, rather than allowing it to become a tool to ridicule or derive harmful entertainment at the expense of others," said Atul Khanna, renowned educationist and Director, Strawberry Fields High Schools.

Expert take

"There must be many (cases) not reported by school authorities fearing the consequences. The alleged police interrogation is very dreadful on their behalf. The young minds are very sensitive. The police should have hired a professional therapist or psychologist to tackle the situation. Also, at first, the school should have approached the higher authorities," said Prerna, a physiologist

The 17-year-old student had hanged himself at his home in Zirakpur on Saturday after the Chandigarh cyber police interrogated him following a complaint from the school management. His mother, a single parent, said the cyber cell police had summoned her son for questioning. However, she informed the police that she would accompany her son to the police station.

She said the cyber cell staff also called three other children involved in the case. The police called up the victim, and he himself visited the Cyber Cell station in Sector 17. He and other children were allegedly threatened and interrogated in separate rooms. On reaching home, she found her son hanging from the fan for his room, which was bolted from inside. He was rushed to a hospital in Zirakpur, where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

She blamed the school management and the Cyber Crime Cell responsible for her son’s death.

The victim’s mother revealed that a few months ago, the school management had accused her son and four other students of creating memes about teachers on a social media platform.

No advisory by Education Department

Chandigarh: Sources claimed that the UT Education Department has no specific guidelines to tackle the problem, given the fact that all illegal activities get reported to the police for investigation. “It’s unfortunate, it should not have happened. We will wait for the police, accusing someone is just an apprehension (of being guilty).

The matter is under investigation, and the school authorities will fully support it,” said Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar, Director, School Education. When asked if the department has any specific advisory or officials to tackle such situations, he said: “We do educate our teachers and students about the social media usage, but if something illegal has happened... the police are the right authority to investigate. During my tenure, this is one of the first incidents, but if this (fake social media pages of schools) has happened in the past and the schools have directly approached the cyber cell...that is the best option. The investigation part is best to be with the police.”