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        Fifteen-year-old Santhya was alone at her home in Chennai on 16 January while her family attended a family get together. When the family returned, they found the body of their teenage daughter hanging from a ceiling fan in the living room. This is not an isolated incident. For many suicides of this kind have been reported as school examinations are nearing.

        With model tests slated after Pongal holidays, this Class XII student (a new set of students) was under pressure to excel academically. Santhya, though an above- average student, was told her marks were not enough for a BE seat and was asked to sharpen her focus on academics.

        With all leisure activities withdrawn, vigil by elders and being cornered alone to catch up with hard lessons were enough for her to attempt suicide. It may have been only a brush of death for Santhya, there have been periodical teenager deaths in the month of February and March when the public exams are round the corner.

        Police sources say that last year, around 19 children below the age of 15 ended their lives mainly due to academic pressure during these months. The State's high levels of suicide rates are among young men who are between the age of 14 and 19. Though norms have been laid to curb the evil of corporal punishments, the academicians and parents should learn that pressure on children to score high should be moderate, says a senior police official.

        A Nagarajan, psychologist, says, 'suicide rates in the age group of 10 and 19 is high and the average suicide rate of adolescents are 150 per 1,00,000. And globally, suicide is the fourth main reason for deaths. In Tamilnadu, suicide attempt was mainly connected to academic reasons.

        P V Sankaranaryanan, director of Sneha, a suicide prevention centre, which runs a 24- hour helpline (24640050) for children during the months of public examinations, says, 'upto 15 per cent of those committing suicide in Tamilnadu are children.' According to the 2005 census, around 200 teenagers, mostly aged between14 and 20, committed suicide due to fear of exam and failure'.

        'While 40 per cent of them are girls, 60 per cent are boys. We are trying to conduct workshops for parents, teachers and students from standard 9 to 12 and teach them how to tackle pressure and try to inculcate stress management techniques', he says.