Ryan school back in news for wrong reasons, experts worried

Gurugram : After two years, Ryan International School is back in the news, and for wrong reasons. This time, two students of class VIII had a violent fight on its campus at the upscale sector 31, here this week.

They were separated from harming each other by security staff and issued a tough warning by the principal. She also called their parents and told them that their wards would be rusticated in case of the repeat of incident.

Though none of the parents have approached the police to register complaint, students assaulting each other on campus is an alarming issue that too when the school has a murky past.

Given the increasing frequency of these types of incidents, psychologists point to the basic flaws behind these types of behaviours, like teenagers undergoing physical and emotional changes, inability of the existing social setup to help them understand the basic human qualities and prepare them for the future, growing feeling of entitlement among urban children.

On September 8, 2017, a class XI student slit the throat of 7-year-old class II student in the toilet of Ryan International School, Bhondsi. The victim (Prince, as per the guideline of the Gurugram civil court) died in hospital. The student had committed the crime allegedly to prevent the parent-teacher meeting.

On May 9, 2016, Jiya Juneja, a class III student of Ryan International School, sector 40, Gurgaon, died due to negligence of the school bus driver. The driver had parked the bus wrongly on the road. The child attempted to cross the road and was hit by a speeding car at Krishna colony, near sector 7 in the old Gurugram.

She sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to Medanta Hospital in unconscious state. She was admitted to ICU in the state of coma. She took her last breath 9 days after the accident. On January 31, 2016, a class I student of the same school in Vasant Kunj drowned in the water harvesting tank.

While each time the school administration issued statements assuring parents complete security of their wards, the violent incidents raise serious questions. After murder of Prince in 2017, the school in a statement stated, "The school authorities have seriously taken up the review of the security measures at the school.

All necessary improvements and measures are being audited and reinforced with the help of experts. We are also seeking advice from the police department to guide us in this regard."

Meanwhile, experts say knowing the psychological aspect of students, particularly teenagers, is very important to understand and rectify these kind of situations. Shweta Sharma, clinical psychologist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurugram, says, " As an emotion, anger is more prevalent among teenagers.

That's the age when children know a lot, but are not sure what to do about it. The physical and emotional changes are too much for them to handle. In countries like India, social taboos related to counseling make it more difficult for them to cope with the changes."

"Though parents are often friendly these days, they hardly have time for children. As a result, frustration and anger build up. We need to build a support system for these children where they can talk about their feelings and thoughts and provide a remedy that is aimed at building their trust and preparing them to control their emotions better," Sharma said.

Jyoti Kapoor of Paras Hospital, Gurugram, said, "Anger is a natural instinct that manifests itself due to unbearable stress. The reason aggression is increasing in today's generation is largely due to low-stress tolerance among them. Urban children are a privileged lot with a sense of entitlement, but they are also exposed to high stress situations due to unlimited exposure to both the good and bad aspects of lifestyle that one has to live up to."

"Parents too are exposed to high stress levels due to the same reasons. Also, virtues of tolerance and sensitivity to fellow beings aren't practiced by them and therefore children did not get to learn that," Kapoor said.