The growth in the number of children running away from home has become a cause of concern, not only for parents and the police, but also for the city's schools and educationists. Police investigation has revealed that in a large number of cases, the children had run away because they were unable to cope with the pressure to do well at school.
The police have been able to trace some of the children who have gone missing. Aniket Patel, 14, a student of Jay Somnath School in Khokhra; Abdul Rashid, 13, studying in a madrassa in Dholka; and one Jayesh Chaudhari (name changed), 14, student of a school near Mansi crossroads had all run away but were fortunately traced by the police.
Talking about the children's failure to cope with academic pressure, Aniket's father, Manu Patel, said his son was scolded by one of his teachers for not doing his math homework. After that, Aniket had become depressed.
What a teacher thinks about him is important for a child as teachers are the first role-models for children outside their homes. Child psychologist Dr Pooja Pushkarna said that, after parents, their teachers are most important people for children during childhood.
