GUYANA, November 8, 2014 (Guyana Chronicle, Editorial by Cecil Ramkirath): In terms of population, the number of suicides in Guyana is alarmingly high. This situation is most distressing and sad and it represents a clarion call for action. Now mere words are no longer enough. There has to be concerted action at the national and local level to address and directly confront this rising scourge. Silence is not an option. But the silence of our pandits, priests, and national civic and religious leaders is almost deafening. To what avail are our many yagnas if we cannot save our youths from this utterly dark and eternally destructible path.
Educators have a crucial role to play in stopping this rising tide of suicide. While academic excellence is commendable, teachers have to inculcate in their students the equally important life skills that will ensure that they can cope well with the pressures of growing up and be able to face the bitterly cold, selfish, harsh and cruel winds of the real world.
The great poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them/Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.”
Much more of this thoughtful essay at source.