Delhi student suicide: Parent opinion split - some blame ‘strict school culture’, others defend it as ‘very good’

The Class 10 boy’s death at St Columba’s School in Delhi has quickly turned into introspection, anxiety and a sharp divide over what may have gone wrong.

Inside the tightly connected groups of parents, several shared that the student had been struggling for some time. A mother, whose younger son studied in the same class, said the boy often visited the school’s counselling room. “The most disturbing part is that the child was a regular visitor to the counselling room in the school and his diary was full of complaints,” the mother was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

She claimed he had been suspended earlier this year. According to her, he was trying to find someone who would listen without judgement. “He was just looking for an outlet, somebody to listen to, somebody to understand and somebody to talk to. Children need love and attention. Somebody in whom they look for a safe space… the person will not judge them for what they are doing and rather give a solution. He did not meet anybody like that. As parents, it is easy to not understand where we are going wrong.”

Many parents said they learned of the boy’s death much later through informal messages. Some said that their class WhatsApp groups stayed silent for hours, and even teachers were unaware until late on November 18. One parent recalled how her son’s friend messaged asking if anything had happened because he saw people crying outside the boy’s home. “That’s how we found out. None of the teachers knew till much later,” she said.

This parent also spoke about her own son’s mental health issues during the Covid-19 pandemic. She said the school had informed her during parent-teacher meetings, and both sides worked together to support him. “Behavioural issues are a mix of many factors. You cannot shout at teenagers. You have to be their safe space,” she was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

Her elder son in Class 12 told her that the school regularly conducts life-skills and counselling sessions, but she added that every situation has more than one side.

On the other hand, some parents strongly defended the school. One father said he was fully satisfied with the environment, calling St Columba’s a “very good school”. He dismissed suggestions of abusive behaviour by teachers and said discipline is necessary. “Most parents are happy. The real truth is that nobody knows what actually happened,” he said.

A former PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) member expressed a similar view. “If my child is getting harassed in the school, I will take care of the child. There are worse things that happen outside school. We have to prepare them. We have to make them mentally strong… My son has studied here from KG.”

However, some parents acknowledged that St Columba’s has long been known for its strict culture. One parent said teachers had always been tough, and there had been occasional issues among students, including a recent fight in a school van involving students of Class 10 and Class 12. “The suicide is very disturbing. The school authorities have been silent. Teachers are worried. The guilty should be punished,” this parent said.

Meanwhile, the authorities at St Columba's School have suspended the headmaster and three teachers who were named in the First Information Report filed by the teenager's father. Further investigation is underway.