Schools open up, organise talks on addiction and sexual abuse

MUNBAI: Udta Punjab, a recent film, seems to have spurred Mumbai schools to talk about drugs, technology addiction and sexual abuse. An increasing number of them

MUNBAI: Udta Punjab, a recent film, seems to have spurred Mumbai schools to talk about drugs, technology addiction and sexual abuse. An increasing number of them have been trying to create awareness on themes that are normally pushed under the carpet.

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RN Podar schools in Santacruz, Khar and Powai, recently, took up bold topics such as substance abuse, emotional and power abuse, selfie obsession and child sexual abuse faced by teenagers, as part of their annual event — Drishtikon.

“I am from Punjab. Two months ago I watched the film and it disturbed me,” said Avnita Bir, principal of the schools. “These issues exist and if we don’t talk about it then who will? Even parents realised their kids need to be equipped.”

Similarly, last week, Jamnabai Narsee International School in Juhu held a week-long campaign — ‘Dare to Care’ — in which school counsellors spoke to students from pre-primary to Class 12 on age-appropriate issues. Interactive sessions on self-identity, self-image and cyber-crime were carried out for high school students and younger ones were warned about the dangers that games such as Pokemon Go pose.

Counsellors said schools are no longer shying away from discussing such issues.

“Five years ago, they were not even willing to talk about sexual harassment. Social media sparked discussions on these topics after the Nirbhaya case but schools are slowly opening up to talking about it now,” said Trisha Shetty, founder and chief executive officer with SheSays, an organisation that started a series of workshops on sexual abuse in schools and colleges since June, this year.

Mental health professionals said that open discussions were beneficial. “We see that if schools talk about such issues, it has a positive impact on students,” said Harish Shetty, senior psychologist, Dr LH Hiranandani Foundation Hospital in Powai. “They learn about the negative consequences of addiction, something which they would not have known otherwise, as even parents rarely talk about it.”

Mental health professionals admitted that addiction is widespread among teens. “Addiction is triggered by peer pressure, excess adrenaline and often demotivation stemming from lack of parental support or inability to reach their goals ,” said Seema Hingorrany, clinical psychologist.