Need to identify suicide tendency of students — DPM

KUALA LUMPUR: Pressure from piling school homework, influence of video games or depression are among the factors being studied by the government to identify the cause of students who commi ed suicide.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said it is important to identify the issue to ensure students with problems or are facing pressure get early assistance to prevent students 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 commi ed 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 challenge 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 a er visiting Selayang Community College here yesterday.

Dr Wan Azizah also called on students and children experiencing pressure or suffering from depression not to keep quiet and 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 while 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 have been exposed to pornographic materials and the main source is from Internet (60.8 per cent).

She said the biggest problem of pornography is that it is accessible via Internet through smart phones.