Anyone who went through the Singaporean education system would be familiar with exam stress. But the pressure to excel may have reached new heights in recent years.
In 2016, suicide prevention agency Samaritans of Singapore reported that there were 27 suicide cases involving young people between the age of 10 and 19–the highest since 2003.
And the spotlight is back on teen suicide this week, after a conversation between a netizen and her Grab driver went viral.
Here’s Ms Shane Yan’s account of the conversation. It began in a lighthearted way, with the driver sharing the good news that his son had done well in the O-Level exams.
However, the conversation soon took a darker turn.
The driver later mentioned that two of his sons’ friends had taken their own lives due to exam-related stress. They were only in primary school at the time of their deaths.
These events have had a profound impact on the driver. The driver was worried that his son–who had failed exams leading up to his O-Levels–would follow in his friends’ paths after getting his results.
I had to keep reminding him that it doesn’t matter if he fails and it is more important than he comes home.
Fortunately, the driver’s son performed well for his O-Levels.
The heart-wrenching post has clearly struck a cord with many netizens, garnering more than 500 shares in 4 days. Netizens used the opportunity to share their own thoughts on school stress today.
This netizen claims that more children are purchasing medicine used to treat mental illness.
And this one feels that computer games are also to blame.
Could examinations be ruining our children’s childhood? This netizen seems to think so.
This netizen stressed the importance of educating our society that our lives are not just solely based on our examination scores.
If you are going through a something similar or know of anyone who’s at risk, do not hesitate to reach out call these numbers below to seek help:
Featured image from Universal Scribbles.
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