We often read about young achievers in our schools and colleges, see them lauded on television channels, keeping ourselves informed of the various success stories. Their lives become subject of discussion; they are often quoted as examples to follow. But how often do we analyze the lives of those who do not make it to the top. What are their stories like? What are their feelings of disappointment like? Well-meaning people in society, especially parents, are often party to damaging a child’s psyche. We present here a case history to show how a child was nearly destroyed by the adults around her, all in the name of giving her a “good” education.

Priya (not her real name) was a normal teenager, as happy and well-adjusted as anyone her age could be. Everything was fine until the day her parents began planning her educational course when she was still in high school. Their overambitious plans led them to obsess over the idea of their daughter becoming an IITian or doctor; becoming either of these is today the mark of educational excellence, thanks to the IITs advertising unprecedented pay packets their alumni are offered by the corporates. Schools whose alumni draw fat salaries are often hugely sought after by parents. Priya’s parents were no exception; they pulled a few strings to get her a seat in one of the schools that drill their students in systems that straitjacket the learner. How questionable such a method of learning and the learning itself are is debatable and is not the focus of this article. This article documents what happens to students who cannot cope with such restrictive systems. Producing exam takers who can get anywhere above 95% marks in the final exams cannot justify the means. Priya joined a school that had the distinction of sending the maximum number of students to the IITs in the recent past, a distinction that made it proud.

Right from her kindergarten days Priya exhibited clear signs that she was not much inclined toward mathematics. For the carefree girl, the challenge the subject presented was too much to cope with; the stress of keeping pace with her teachers’ expectations almost from day one began to tell on her. Her parents’ anxiety began to grow and they hired a “bright” IIT student to coach her in the evenings. These classes left Priya with no time for herself. Sports were considered unnecessary so the question of getting physical exercise of any kind did not arise. Parental anxiety can be highly contagious among children. Gradually, there seemed to be a visible change in Priya’s behavior. From being the typical extrovert girl she became withdrawn, her appetite became weaker and weaker and  started losing weight. She soon began suffering from insomnia.

Priya’s situation at school grew worse by the day. She was irritable at school and could not focus much on lessons. When her grades started falling, teachers and the principal alike took her to task. The teachers and the management alike showed no sensitivity in understanding a child in psychological distress.

Her concerned parents took her to a doctor who ran all the tests and said that everything was physically normal and that she should be taken to a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist unfortunately happened to be a parent of a super-achieving son, a student of the same school as Priya’s. The psychiatrist was very proud of his son’s achievements. The first thing that Priya heard was: “Did you not know that in your school, students getting less than 95 percent are not recognized and they are usually not admitted there. How did you, a real dolt, could even think of getting there? The school’s elevated standards have depressed you.”

The damage these words did was bad enough, but the psychiatrist made a bad situation worse by prescribing her a long list of antidepressants with sedatives. The medication made her sicker and soon she needed to be hospitalized for a few days. Grace E. Jackson, former chief of the U.S. Navy psychiatry service, in her seminal book on anti-psychotic drugs, especially antidepressants, has shown, using solid data, that all those drugs are the cause of a new disease, even in the not-so-old people, called Alzheimer’s disease! The present choice of depression treatment is counseling and behavioral therapy, and not reductionist chemicals, certainly not for a teenager.

While her teachers were running her down almost daily and the general atmosphere at school was discouraging to say the least, Priya’s tutor too was destroying her self-esteem. One of her remarks left Priya completely devastated: “I am sorry, I cannot coach you anymore as I find I am too intelligent to teach a dunce like you!” At this point some with better judgment did intervene but much damage was done to a child who was not allowed to live a happy childhood.

What is being imposed on children such as Priya is nothing short of crime and it falls upon thinking people in general to raise their voice against it.  Anxious parents with misplaced priorities are as much to be blamed as the whole educational set-up. Education today has been reduced to learning the skill of taking exams and scoring marks. All of education today is geared towards bagging seats in IITs and leading medical and business management schools.

A good education should bring out the best in every student. The idea of casting all children in the same mold should be banished. “Every child is a genius only to be converted into an idiot in school,” wrote Nobel Laureate Alexis Carrel. Education should aim at making healthy minds and not just making wealthy careers. Here, society needs to be thoroughly deschooled to get rid of the obsession with marks and ranks in place of healthy education.