Guest Column: Let’s help students understand their real abilities to ward off stress

We are all stressed because we live; life is a risk and the only sure way to be free from disease and death is to be dead

Stress is killing millions across the globe, brilliant students end their lives, highly successful chief executive officers (CEO) get burnt out in their forties, famous film stars, farmers in remote villages, the unemployed job-seekers and underemployed workers are no exception in taking the extreme step.

The problem is to understand what level of stress for what kind of individual personality crosses the threshold. (Getty Images)

We are all stressed because we live; life is a risk and the only sure way to be free from disease and death is to be dead. The “womb to tomb” cliché is that some form of stress is part of existence right from the time a child is conceived in the womb of the mother till the last breath. However, all stress is not bad since some stress is essential to unleash one’s true potential. Being calm and one in mind and body under trying and stressful situations does not come naturally to every individual; it has to be learnt, particularly by the youth who have not yet been conditioned in similar circumstances.

The problem is to understand what level of stress for what kind of individual personality crosses the threshold. The youth is the most vulnerable to fall prey to in the high-aspiration tight job market scenario in India; unfortunately, coaching institutions have become an essential evil.

Having written about it and travelled to several institutions to spread awareness about the dangers of stress and sharing techniques that can help handle pressure of stress in different situations, I have realised that our education and governance systems, the constructs societal and peer pressure and parental ambitions have created an environment wherein every youth wants to get through entrance examinations to secure the best jobs irrespective of their actual abilities.

Even after graduating from school, students are hardly mature enough to find the answer to the complex question: “Who am I?”. To figure out what they really want to make of their life is a whole other ball game.

They are operating in a world that is volatile, ambiguous, unpredictable and chaotic adding to the confusion in their minds when they are at crossroads. Emotions are fragile the younger you are and the present times hardly offer any respite. The “monkey minds” of fresh graduates oscillate between hurt and anger endured in the past and fear and anxiety that’s to cross paths with them in the future. It is the job of the parents and teachers to show them the way. At that tender age, it is natural for them to have misplaced confidence in their abilities and capacities for facing any challenge head on. That is the precise reason, schools must have mentors and not mere teachers as “teachering” is no more relevant. Outdated, the system does not have teachers who are not just the best in brain, but also the best in mind. Meeting the statutory requirement of having a part-time counsellor is hardly of any help. A learner needs role models in mentors, as a teacher is trained only to teach, a mentor has knowledge, skill, experience and maturity to develop personal rapport with the students by correct and precise understanding of the student.

Students must be helped to assess and understand their personality traits as early as possible by using any of the several techniques and software available in the market. This will help them understand the field that they can excel in. The mentors must help them understand that it is not the exams that make the biggest difference in their lives. The students must understand though they have the potential to become anything they want, they cannot have everything they want.

That’s no to say that they should not try out tough challenges, but they must always have a “Plan B” in case their aim of getting through the JEE, NEET, UPSC examination does not materialise. In the present world, anything they do well can become their passion and profession.

Of course, the greedy owners of coaching institutions must understand the fact that they are dealing with human beings with emotions and nor machines who will simply obey commands.

colcheema1942@gmail.com

(The writer is a Panchkula-based freelance contributor.)