A Rendezvous with Rishiraj Singh IPS at Bhavans Smart Indian School, Kuwait

A breath-taking talk on ‘Say No to Drugs’ was held at the auditorium of Smart Indian School by none other than the one and only – Rishiraj Singh IPS. This was definitely a proud moment for the Bhavans team. Our guest was accompanied by the Chairman of Bhavans Middle East, Mr.N.K. Ramachandran Menon,Vice Chairman Mr. Sooraj Ramachandran, Director, Ms. Divya Rajesh Ramachandran along with the Principals, Vice Principals and Headmistress of Bhavans Middle East schools. A large number of teachers, students along with the parents of many schools attended the session.

The session began by Ms. Bhavitha Bright welcoming the charismatic IPS officer. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp and memento presentation. As the former head of the Indian Police Service, Rishiraj Singh discussed the impact of the drug issue on the school going kids. Based on this same topic, he has written a book called ‘Vaikum Munpe’ which has a total of 5 editions and the English version was released by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, honourable Member of the Parliament. According to Rishiraj Singh, the drug abuse problem among school students in different parts of the world is no secret.

The rise of drug usage is attributed to the increasing screen time of students and the lack of communication between them and their parents. Another issue that parents and children need to address is the choice of subjects after 12th grade. Since most parents still prefer to have their kids study medicine or engineering, it is important that they educate them about the various options available to them. Besides this, the communication gap between parents and students also contributes to the issue of bullying.

According to Mr. Rishiraj Singh, a child needs to be touched around nine times by their parents every day to feel confident enough to talk to them. As they get older, the need for physical contact should not be removed by the parents. According to the IPS officer, about 30 percent of students in the US commit suicide. In India, about 12,000 students killed themselves last year. The officer noted that students should be appreciated for their academic achievements and extra-curricular activities.

During a school safety session, the officer noted that the use of illicit substances were the highest in three places: a hotel, a classroom, and toilets. Since a child spends about 30% of his life in school, teachers have a lot of responsibility. They should also regularly monitor the behaviour of the child, and they can prevent dangerous activities by communicating with the child.

In Kerala, the drug mafia focuses on the coaching centres that are commonly used by students. They know that most of the children there are under pressure. After falling for the trap, some of them end up in jail. In UP and Bihar, the parents of children from poor backgrounds are forcing them to pursue studies in IIT even if they are not able to graduate. Their children are committing suicide because they are unable to meet the expectations of their parents. He also mentioned the movie ‘Kota Factory’ which is a story surrounding the above-mentioned issue and all parents and children should watch it.

Not enough parents are aware of the various roles that a scientist, a pilot, an army officer, or a defence contractor can have nowadays. This is why it is important for students to develop their language skills. He told parents to talk with their children on a daily basis so that they don’t wander off. The speech culminated in opening the eyes of many.

The informative session was wrapped up with a vote of thanks proposed by Ms. Josepin Lavanya followed by the Indian National Anthem.