New Delhi: Spring-loaded "anti-suicide" fans, enclosing fans in mesh guards or replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted units-the physical modifications by Indian education institutions to prevent student suicides might be attracting criticism as "bandaid measures" but the approach has been adopted previously by several foreign universities.
University of Houston (UH) had in 2023 made changes in its infrastructure, including installation of security fencing around the building and temporary barriers to secure the upper-level balconies, inner stairwell and sky bridges, after two students died by suicide on the campus.
Following the incident, the university had created an Agnes Arnold Hall Taskforce and undertook a three-phase renovation.
"The renovation of this facility is a critical step for the university as is the support of our students. With the input of those on the taskforce and others throughout the university, UH also has implemented several initiatives to support our students' mental and academic well-being," Diane Z Chase, senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at University of Houston had said in an announcement in 2024.
At US' Cornell University, a cluster of suicides during the 2009-10 academic year, three of which involved university students jumping from or near East Hill bridges within a month, prompted installation of steel-mesh nets on bridges spanning the gorges around campus.
The university ultimately implemented permanent barriers on eight bridges and fencing around some cliff-edge areas.
Cornell's own account says its consultants had identified the absence of bridge means restriction as a gap in its existing suicide-prevention approach and recommended physical barriers as part of a multifaceted strategy.
Timothy Marchell, a clinical psychologist and director of the Skorton Centre for Health Initiatives at Cornell Health had then announced that the university also secures access to chemicals, weapons and equipment that could be used as a means of suicide.
Harvard University's "Means Matter" guidelines, based on recommendations contributed by the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre (SPRC) also say that "restricting access to lethal means is one strategy in a comprehensive approach to reducing the risk of suicide on a college campus".
"Each campus should review its own data on suicide attempts and fatalities to identify the type of means used and to determine if there are trends or patterns in the use of specific methods," the guidelines said.
"Common lethal means used by college-aged students are firearms, jumping, poisoning, suffocation, drowning and hanging.Therefore, administrators and staff should conduct a scan of the campus environment for access to building rooftops, balconies, windows, and bridges. They should look for places where students, faculty, and staff might gain access to toxic substances like chemicals found in laboratories," they added.
University College London (UCL) and Brunel University of London also have a policy of installing window opening restrictors in student residences. At Oxford's Wadham College, students are prohibited from interfering with window restrictors, while access to roofs, parapets and canopies is prohibited. Balconies are also fitted with guard rails.
While the restrictions are documented policies by the three institutions, they have not defined whether these are part of suicide-prevention strategy.
The death of an IIT Bombay student on September 18, who was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on campus, has triggered protests, bringing back the spotlight on student suicides.
The incident came after an IIT Delhi student died by suicide in August, leading to outrage on the campus, and is one of the several such deaths that have occurred across the premier technical institutions of the country in recent years.
The move by IIT Bombay and BIT Mesra to move towards removing ceiling fans in hostel rooms as a possible preventive, has triggered a debate on whether these are cosmetic or bandaid measures.
This follows the Kota playbook of three years ago when 25 students preparing for competitive exams ended their lives, prompting the administration in the coaching hub mandating hostels across the city to install "anti-suicide spring-loaded ceiling fans" and fit "anti-suicide net" in balconies and lobbies.
Vaishali Shanmugam, a psychiatrist specialising in anxiety disorders, told PTI that the restriction of access to lethal means is also part of WHO recommendations but should not be an alternative for meaningful support to students.
"WHO does recommend restriction of access to lethal means as an evidence based suicide prevention strategy. However, its absolute effectiveness in preventing suicide is difficult to establish, and such measures should be viewed as an additional layer of protection, not a solution to the problem of suicide in premier institutions," she said.
"There is a risk that an excessive focus on environmental modifications shifts attention from the larger mental-health crisis-academic and social stressors, institutional culture, early identification, accessibility of mental-health care, and meaningful support for students.
"Removing fans might save a few lives in the short term. But if we want to truly support students, we must create systems that help them feel heard, understood, and cared for. It is time we stop putting band aids on bullet wounds," added Shanmugam.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
