Written by: Omair Alavi

In the last week of May, 4 school children from different parts of the country have made it to the headline news for the wrong reasons – suicide. Whatever their reasons may be, the media managed to mould the story to its advantage and nearly every other talk show host and anchor came out all guns blazing at the parents as well as the teachers for their attitude. Some blamed the teachers for being too strict, and parents for being too busy, but I think the issue is with neither. The issue is with the media itself!

The kids may have committed suicide due to different issues but the news shouldn’t have made it to the bulletin let alone be treated as breaking news or an issue. We as Muslims should be reminded that those who commit suicide fall in the same bracket as suicide bombers but did the media do anything about that? Was there any news anchor or talk show host who comforted the parents or told the teachers that they are sorry for their loss as well? None did and I am not surprised because by not doing so, they have taught the kids in the country that there is nothing wrong with suicide, go ahead and end your life if you don’t like your teacher or parents!

Every parent wants the very best for their children, and none wants the kid to suffer in any way. A kid who doesn’t come to school for five days, a kid who doesn’t complete his homework, a kid who doesn’t pass his examinations, and a kid whose mother doesn’t want to sign his report card because he didn’t study when he was told to, must not be hailed as martyrs. They are nothing more than suicide bombers – for their parents, their brothers, sisters, friends and the community.

The kids in the country with 5 days vacations would now think of taking their lives rather than taking their parents to school. The kids who spent their time playing outside rather than studying inside will not think twice about the easy way out. And all thanks to media for pointing out the weak points in its gateway through which any one can enter and gain sympathy for something they should be lambasted for.

The issue with us humans in general is that we tend to do exactly what we are not supposed to do. Our kids watch the very footage that is marked PG (Parental Guidance), we unintentionally (or even intentionally) watch spicy news items about Veena Malik and laugh on jokes by our politicians when we shouldn’t. But then, had we stayed within the line, we would never have been dumped on Earth, right?

None of the TV channels had the decency to air the comments of one of the effected kid’s father in which he blamed the media for his son’s suicide. He said that if the news of the other suicides hadn’t been aired, his son would have been there with him. And I think he was right. It is high time that all TV channels should think revisiting their priorities because that’s the only way they can stop being stupid, and do something constructive for the betterment of the country.