Another UG student committed suicide at HKUST yesterday

I am shocked to read from the news that a 19-year old first year undergraduate majoring in maths jumped from his Tsuen Wan flat yesterday.  The newspaper reported that it was attributed to the stress from midterms, since October is the peak season for midterm exams.  Is it study environment so stressful for students to handle?  In the real commercial world, the level of stress is much higher than that in a university.  Or is it that the stress tolerance level for the post-90s is much lower than say the post 50s, 60s or 70s?  Or is it the parents exert undue pressure onto their children?  Or is it the societal system which we celebrate "success" has been absorbed in quantifiable achievements?  I wish I had the answer.

The Dean emailed to all professors requesting their assistance to refer to the university counselors should they see any psychological issues with the students.  However, I think the professors or the parents are usually the last one to know, or rather never know since the students who have problem would hardly approach the professors.  Instead, I suspect the peers / friends would be the first to notice.  So why not the university provide some training for peer support groups?  This is what I have proposed to the Dean.  I am curious to know what his response would be.

Separately, three weeks ago I opened a thread titled "let's support each other" in the discussion forum of my course for students to write encouragement or share their motivational songs to support each other during this stressful month.  May I share with you two threads from my students and their motivational song.  I trust we can make more use of such peer sharing, and motivation to show them that they are not alone.

One student wrote: "Guys, I know Oct has been tough because we all are so packed with studies,job applications and personal things. This video is very touching, it is about Derek Redmond going down in this race with a pulled hamstring, he did not stop but continued the event! The world cheered for his courage and bravery!

Yes, life is not always like what we have planned. If we put a lot of effort in one thing, and if it turns out that we may not be able to harvest at the end, DO NOT GIVE UP, the process is sometimes more important !!!! We got to be strong because we are not alone, the world is supporting us as long as we work hard and stay strong all the time!!!!!!!

So, once you are on the field track , you have to try your best to finish the event!!!

Guys, never say never!! :))"

Another student wrote:  "This is one of the songs that I have been listening to a lot recently. And it's rather uplifting in my opinion. Specifically the "you shot me down, but i won't fall" part."