‘Relationships fail, cause depression’

MUMBAI:A college in the suburbs has told girl students that failed relationships could lead to depression.

MUMBAI:A college in the suburbs has told girl students that failed relationships could lead to depression.

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Mithibai College, in collaboration with a city-based NGO , recently held a talk on ‘Teenage Relations’, where speakers highlighted the “problems associated with teenage relations and their long-term impact on children’s academic, social and psychological well-being”. They asked students to exercise self-control and to channelise their passions in a “proper direction”.

Though students were not explicitly told if relationships are right or wrong, the speakers, which included Rajpal Hande, principal of the college and Aadesh Chavan, a member of Yuva Aadhar, rolled out statistics that indicated that most relationships among teenagers end up in failure, and often result in sexual or physical harassment of girls. “The teenagers undergo hormonal changes, and develop emotions which need to be directed in a proper direction,” Hande told HT. “At this age, it’s natural for students to feel attracted towards the opposite gender, but they often misconceive infatuation for a relationship.”

Speakers said most students end up in a relationship due to peer pressure. “There’s an undercurrent of a pressure to fit into a certain culture perpetuated by movies and other media, and students develop a wrong notion of college life,” said Chavan.

He added that the NGO decided to organise the session after they realised that girls tend to go into depression and find it difficult to recover after a break-up. “This isn’t the right age to get into a relationship,” said Chavan.

“Relationships between young boys and girls have become inevitable due to exposure to media. What we can do is ask girls to be safe,” adds Dr Samir Dalwai, president, Indian Academy of Paediatrics.