SPM - TEEN DIES AFTER GETTING RESULTS

The result for SPM 2011 was just released a few days ago. And amidst the joy of top scorers and the the community as a whole for achieving ‘the best result in 5 years’, tragedy occurs. I read with sadness this newspaper report below:

Teen dies after getting SPM results

By R.S.N. MURALI (murali@thestar.com.my)

Friday March 23, 2012

“A teenager collapsed and died after he received his SPM examination results here. P Eshwaran, 46, from Durian Tunggal, said his son E. Prem Kumar, 18, was rushed to a clinic by passers-by at about 3pm yesterday after he collapsed in front of a row of shop-houses. He claimed that Prem Kumar was believed to have consumed pesticide shortly after taking his result slip at 1pm on Wednesday. Eshwaran said he was informed of the incident when his son was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Malacca Hospital. However, Prem Kumar died due to internal organ damage at about 6pm yesterday. “I believe he might have not been happy with his results. He did not return home after going out to get his results,” he said. Eshwaran said his son met his uncle and told him that he had failed several subjects, although he did quite well in the trial examinations.”

Let’s put aside any foul play theories and take the report as it is reported. Until the autopsy proves otherwise, we shall for now take it that the teenager has ended his own life.

It is really a tragedy for the teenager to have decided that his future is not worth living when he did not do well in his SPM. We have heard inspirational stories about how some school drop-outs ended up to be someone successful in the future. Not that we are encouraging anyone to drop-out, but to remind everyone that the future is yet to be discovered. We’ll never know what lies ahead. So, it makes us wonder, what made this teenager thinks that his life is not worth living after a bad showing in SPM? Here are some of the comments that I picked up from around the internet.

dee88 says:

“Teachers only good on making us score on our exam, but they are bad at teaches us how to appreciate live.. same goes to some parents. And there's also student who take SPM as a matter of live. In their mind, fail to get good result = fail for the entire life. To prevent this kind of things happen again in the future, students should be teach how to handle failure. We maybe can consider to make counselling one of the curriculum class”

gorshan says:

Sometimes my son will nervously approach me and admit he has no confidence in a paper or two. I put my arm around him and tells him it’s okay sometimes you do well sometimes you don’t.Important thing is you did your best and to take the failure as an impetus to strive better next time, next attempt at any papers. With no parental pressure on him he is more relaxed now and does well in his exam. Give your kids loving support, prop up their self confidence but do not pressurized them and they will do alright in the long run.

Eugene91 says:

“SPM is not the end lah.. It must be pressure from teachers/etc.... I know people who scored credits only in SPM but in University they get Distinctions and High Distinctions.”

The teenager’s death is indeed a tragedy. And I would like to remind myself and to all the readers; let’s not be too quick to judge and to blame. The suggestion to have ‘Counseling’ as one of the curriculum in school is a good suggestion and same goes to the parental advise by Gorshan. But I don't think it is fair to blame the teachers or the parents for not doing enough? There were 468,808 students who took SPM last year, but this one teenager did not handle the results well. Could the teachers have done anything for this teenager? Perhaps. But that does not mean that they have neglected their responsibility. And as teachers, they must also be seen fair to all their students. If they give extra attention to this one teenager, then all the other students should also deserve that extra attention. Should the society also be blamed for not doing more - well, why not? It is the society that puts the pressure onto the parents and the teachers in the first place. It is a competitive (and sometimes ruthless) world that we live in right now.

Well, whoever it is to blame - it is a bit too late for this teenager. But should we know of any other teenagers (or whoever for that matter) who we suspect to be going through some kind of depression, how could we help? Well, to start with, let's have this hotline handy.

Lifeline Association of Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR
Contact by: Face to Face - Phone
Helpline 1: (603) 92850039
Helpline 2: (603) 92850279
Helpline 3: (603) 92850049