Parents, students call helplines

AHMEDABAD: Kamal Mehta found itdifficult to lift the spirits of his son, who had performed poorly in the ClassXII exams. Mehta finally decided to seek help of experts and contacted acity-based exam counsellor.Though the city-based helplines have not been exactly flooded with enquiries after the Class XII results, there has still been a considerable number of calls received. The enquiries aremainly related to students getting anxious, or those who are depressed and wantto know what future holds for them after a bad performance. There are alsoparents who call to ask how they should help their children de-stress."My son is suffering from depression. He is down after notperforming well in the exams and scoring a low percentage. But I have beenasking him not to worry. As a matter of fact, my wife and I were not expectinghim to score even this much. I am afraid that in depression, he might take awrong decision. I do not want him to take any extreme step," Mehta told thecounsellor at the Saath helpline.Mehta has planned to visit thecounsellor for personal session, so that he can make his son meet the expert,who can help him get to terms with his performance.In another case,there was a student from Palanpur who called the helpline sharing his anxiety."The boy said he is expecting his Class 10 result on Thursday and is extremelyscared because of the pressure of parents' expectations. The boy sounded veryscared and kept saying that his father would beat him up if he gets a poorresult," the counsellor told TOI.