Girls run away to avoid parental pressure on academics, says study

BANGALORE: Think twice before you push your daughters into excelling in academics. Statistics show that at least 5% of 14,989 girls who went missing from 2009 to September 2011 ran away from home, unable to bear parental pressure over academic performance.
This fact was revealed in a report prepared by the Karnataka State Women's Commission on missing women in the state. Most of these girls feared their poor academic performance would invite violent retribution.Commission chairperson C Manjula said that young girls feel distressed, trapped between their inferiority complex and parental pressure. She said most of these girls were children of entrepreneurs, government employees and those in secure jobs.
Nagasimha G Rao of Child Rights Trust confirmed the trend. He said his NGO has come across several such instances.
"A girl wanted to do her degree in psychology, but her parents wanted her to pursue commerce. She promptly left her home and came to us for help, after failing in the exam. We counseled her parents and she is fine now," he said. Narrating another instance, Rao said a disabled girl came to them in Bangalore because she was depressed with the discrimination she was facing at home. The Karnataka State Women's Commission report on missing girls quantified the parentage of girls going missing on the basis of their profession.
"About 7% of the missing girls' parents were engaged in farming, and 37% were daily wage labourers. Another 37% had parents in the business sector and 12% were government employees. But only 7% of missing girls' parents worked in the private sector. The data shows that daughters of labourers, business families and government employees ran away from home. Poverty and high expectations from children on their academic front were the prominent triggers. A few parents continuously harassed their daughters over their poor academic performance forcing the girls to run away from home," the report said.
"It's not right on the part of parents to put pressure on their children on academic performance. The children may be talented in some other stream of knowledge, or in art or sports. They need parental approval and support to carry on in their field of interest. But in many cases, parents fail to nurture them. It's a deep-rooted problem in our society and there are no ready solutions. Parents must defy social stigma and consult a psychologist or psychiatrist if the child shows symptoms of stress," said child psychologist Sulata Shenoy.
"According to Article 10 of the Child Rights Convention, parents must spend at least two hours with their children. Their voice must be heard. They have participation rights, which are being violated in Indian society. Adolescent children are rebellious and vulnerable to identity crisis. Every home must be child-friendly, and not become an alien place for children," Rao said.