DPM: Need to identify suicide tendency among students

By Bernama - August 28, 2019 @ 8:58pm

KUALA LUMPUR: Pressure from piling school homework, influence of video games and depression
are among the factors being studied by the government to identify the cause of a student who
committed suicide.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said it was important to identify the
issue to ensure students with problems or were facing pressure get early assistance to prevent them
from taking their own lives.
Dr Wan Azizah who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the tragic
death of a 13-year-old pupil in Penang who was reported to have committed suicide by hanging
himself, believed to be due to pressure from homework on Saturday (Aug 24) should not be
repeated.
“The case is now being investigated but we want to know if there were online problems as it was
said there was a game which challenges players to commit suicide apart from socialising with
friends.
“At the same time, we are also looking at the overload of school homework which pressured the
boy...we will look at all angles and what we can do to prevent students from reaching that level,” she
told reporters after visiting Selayang Community College here today.
Dr Wan Azizah also called on students and children experiencing pressure or suffering from
depression not to keep quiet and that they should seek help by talking to their parents, families,
cyber friends, via tele assistance or seek counselling.
“If we have problems or are depressed especially teenagers, talk and get it off the chest as one of
the ways to calm depression and the tendency to commit suicide.
“We also have Talian Kasih 15999 as well as the Befrienders or even counseling at school and even
the ministry is also open to those who needed such help,” she said.
In this regard, Dr Wan Azizah reminded parents to be alert and monitor their children’s internet
usage so as not to become pornography addicts.
She said despite the various measures introduced by the government to combat social ills, parents
should take the responsibility to nip such problems among children.
“Parents should take the responsibility of checking what their children are surfing on the internet as
some became viral, leading to other problems.
“We should make sure our teenagers do not become pornography addicts… it is one of the mental
diseases in the country,” she said, commenting on the findings of Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia
recently that children aged between 10 and 14 were selling themselves on several social media
applications such as Bigo Live, Instagram and WeChat.
Dr Wan Azizah said the government was aware and concerned with the issue and had introduced
various initiatives among them Sekeluarga Tolak Pornografi (STOP) via Persatuan WADAH
Pencerdasan Umat Malaysia, Child Online Policy (COP), and the Klik Dengan Bijak programme by
the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
She said the 5th Malaysian Family and Population Study implemented by the National Population
and Family Development Board (LPPKN) in 2014 found 35.2 per cent of juveniles had been exposed
to pornographic materials and the main source was from internet (60.8 per cent).
She said the biggest problem about pornography was that it was accessible via internet through
smartphones.
On Selayang Community College, Dr Wan Azizah said the Special Skills Study Programme offered
by the Education Ministry saw 100 per cent disabled and autistic students succeed in getting work
after finishing their studies. - Bernama