When one observes the mental anguish that grips parents whose children commit suicide, the words of Pulitzer Prize-Winning American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis ring true.
In the play, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot which tells the story of a court case over the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot, Guirgis writes: “No parent should have to bury a child … No mother should have to bury a son. Mothers are not meant to bury sons. It is not in the natural order of things.”
Unnatural as it might be, parents are having to endure the anguish of burying their children who are dying in the most throbbing of ways – suicide.
From the day a child decides to take his or her life, parents begin a lifetime of indescribable grief and suffering.
Losing a loved one is never easy.
An anonymous writer once said: “No matter how you lose someone – whether all at once or bit by bit – that wave of grief still knocks you down. It takes you down. It takes your breath away.”
Parents of school children who commit suicide have to deal with this unending pain for the rest of their lives.
In Zimbabwe, cases of schoolchildren taking their lives are spiralling out of control.
A few days ago, a ZRP high school Upper Six student Prince Tawonezvi committed suicide while in the past week, 15-year-old Jaydan Saudan from Hamilton High school in Bulawayo drank a pesticide and died a day later at United Bulawayo Hospitals over suspected bullying issues.
A 14-year-old Form Three student at St Mary’s Secondary School in Chikanga, Mutare, Rumbidzai Chimusasa committed suicide in a school toilet after being reportedly reprimanded for aberrant behaviour by her grandmother.
Last September, a Form Four student at St Faith’s High School in Rusape committed suicide after fellow students allegedly accused him of practicing satanism.
These incidents show that suicides are a serious problem.
According to 2021 statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in every 100 deaths globally is due to suicide.
Africa has a higher suicide rate (12.0 per 100,000) than the global average (10.5 per 100,000) and has the third highest suicide rate following Europe and South-East Asia.
Based on 2021 independent statistics from the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the country loses approximately 30 teachers and six students to suicides each year.
Schools, which should offer an excellent and important opportunity to reach a large number of young people about the downside of suicides are fast becoming fertile grounds for triggering suicides.
Bullying is one of the most common causes of suicides among teenagers.
The National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control defines bullying as: “Unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.”
The behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.
Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumours, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.
Bullying can occur in person or through technology.
Parents who opened up to ZimSeen said many schools were not doing enough to deal with bullying.
Jody Saudan, sister to the late Jaydan told a Bulawayo newspaper that her brother was bullied but helped him.
“He told us he was being bullied by prefects but was not getting any help from teachers. My brother said he was being called racist names because of the colour of his skin.
It is alleged that one of the teachers confiscated his satchel, blazer, tie and cell phone arguing that Saudan should cut his hair.
Even when he cut his hair, reports say school authorities were not convinced.
He was alone.
According to a policy brief by WHO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the first two decades of life is a critical period for the development of foundational competencies that can shape a learner’s mental health trajectories.
“At this particular stage of rapid development and learning, children and adolescents are highly susceptible to environmental influences. Experiences and environments can harm mental health. Or they can be shaped to promote and protect it.”
Experts note that children and adolescents’ mental health and psychosocial well-being can be influenced by interactions with peers and families, by their experiences in schools and communities, socio-cultural aspects and broader political and economic factors.
“Addressing these components is critical for understanding and safeguarding children’s mental health and well-being in the school context,” said social worker Lisa Samupita-William.
Teachers play a pivotal role in helping students deal with mental health issues.
However, government teachers in the country are a disgruntled lot due to poor salaries and deplorable working conditions.
Researcher Jethro Makumbe said teachers play a crucial role in promoting and protecting learners’ mental health and psychosocial well-being.
“Positive relationships with teachers and other educators can ensure children and adolescents feel safe, supported and have a sense of belonging,” said Makumbe.
“Studies have shown that higher levels of school belonging were associated with lower mental health problems across young adulthood. Supportive relationships between learners and teachers have been found to positively influence children’s engagement and attainment in school, build their social and problem-solving skills, and contribute to a sense of purpose and agency.”
UNICEF, WHO, and UNESCO concur that it is important to equip teachers and other educators with the competencies and technical support to implement programmes and curricula that increase mental health literacy and promote the development of transferable skills (also referred to as social and emotional learning).
“Facilitate early identification and early intervention for those needing additional mental health and psychosocial support (ensuring linkages to community-based mental health care); and increase caregiver and community engagement to support children’s learning and overall well-being,” reads the brief, in part.
Research has shown the importance of a comprehensive and effective suicide prevention policy in schools.
The policy should target students; vulnerable students in particular through psycho-education, skills training, monitoring their health; teachers and school staff through gatekeeper training, and supporting teachers and providing a safe and healthy workplace and the whole school environment by restricting access to lethal methods, by strengthening the cooperation with mental health services, by improving the school culture through involving students and parents. – ZimSeen
