4:30 am - Wake-up alarm
5:30 am - 7:30 am - Coaching / study at home
8:30 am - 6:30 pm - College
8:30 pm - at least 10:00 pm  - Study at home

This is typical of a majority of teenagers (read 11th and 12th standard students) in Andhra Pradesh; I am totally ignorant of the situation in other states. You can find hundreds of such students in your locality, hanging in city buses, and coaching centers.

Greedy / worried parents (I am sorry!) along with corporate colleges are creating havoc in the name of competition and competitive world. The struggle starts as the students enter their teenage. The targets for any seventh or eight standard student are IIT, BITS, AIEEE, IISC, AIMS, our very own EAMCET, etc. Non-engineering and non-medicine courses are considered inferior and students who fail to clear the entrances are either forced to try again the next year or shown sympathy and admitted to a degree course.

During this age, leave alone games and sports, poor students are denied any physical activity. Like robots they follow their tutors. Everything goes according to the timetable. They don't read newspaper or magazines / journals and have minimal knowledge of the happenings around them. Textbooks, of the size of a telephone directory, are their source of entertainment. Homework would come even before Sundays and holidays. Fo(dder)od is served to their rooms err... to their mouths, making them forget of their abilities and capabilities. For neighbors, the existence of such students is a big mystery.

Daily exams, revision hours, study hours, doubts classes, mock tests, blah blah blah...along with peer comparisons put relentless pressure on tender minds. The situation is even worse in boarding schools where students are punished if they fare poorly - don't ask me how much is poor - prompting weaker minds to take extreme steps.

Parents are to be blamed for this trend which is most commonly seen among the middle-class. They believe their children will lead a better life, unlike them, if they study well in their teenage. But what they fail to realize is that it is during this teenage that tender minds start to mature, will like to think independently, explore and experiment. It is also the time to uncover latent talents, counsel and guide young, exuberant minds, and allow them to create a future of their choice; a future where they feel they belong to; and a future they believe is built by them.

I am not advocating anything against forcing children to study hard. While there are students who perform exceptionally well with little guidance and some with little more persuasion, there are others who cannot handle the mental burden. So, it's up to parents to analyze, understand, and gauge their children's strengths and ensure children cherish their student life.