Depression ranks high among teens today. Anything and everything seems to be a cause of disturbance for our kids. And more often than not we parents are at loss as to what is expected of us when our kids misbehave or flare up when corrected. I do not know the reasons behind the two recent death of youngsters in UAE, but I am deeply saddened (“Girl falls to her death in Umm Al Quwain,” Dec.11, Gulf Today).

While it is difficult to understand the emotional and mental trauma the deceased must have undergone, one can imagine the pain the family members of the deceased are undergoing and go through for the rest of their lives. It is a thin line sometimes between correction and the actions that follow. And in most cases there are no clear answers when our children take the extreme step. No parent would take their child to task without reason and if done so it is for the good of the child. Not otherwise. But sadly that is not well understood.

What’s distressing is that the recent incident of the Indian teenager falling from the sixth floor of her apartment in UAQ is the second this month in the UAE. A few days ago another Indian teen fell from the 10th floor in Sharjah. I also remember that last month a similar tragedy struck a Sharjah family when their 16-year-old jumped from the balcony of their apartment in Al Qasimia area.

Of course, the alarming rise is a cause for concern. And while parents and relatives are queried and authorities are trying to get a better insight into the tragedies, I feel the community needs get pro-active. I think we could put social networking to good use, here. Parents, teachers and elders need to be alert and should they spot something unnatural in a youngster, probably we could inform the parents of the respective child. We may just be able to preempt an incident.

Manisha Shah
By email