This centre at Tirunelveli collectorate aims to arrest juvenile delinquency, not the kids

TIRUNELVELI: In an attempt to help students, who run into trouble with the law, return to a positive path, the District Counselling Centre (DCC) was inaugurated at the Collectorate on Wednesday as a coordinated initiative involving various government departments.

Taking note of the fact that students are increasingly facing problems ranging from mental stress, poor academic performance, and examination fear to bullying, family issues, and substance abuse, the centre was set up to identify these problems early and provide counselling, guidance, and support.

Instances of students becoming involved in substance abuse, social media-related offences, sexual harassment, caste-related violence, bike racing, and even violent crimes are being reported in the district.

“Normally, students accused of offences are produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to observation homes. This new initiative aims to address the root cause of the problem, which is often mental distress caused by a lack of support from their families or friends,” said a senior police officer.

After a student offender returns home from an observation home, they often regroup with fellow offenders and become involved in crime again. “Now, we will identify such students with the help of the District Child Protection Unit and bring them to the DCC,” the officer said.

“We have formed a trust called TEAM, involving officials and non-officials, including prominent industrialists, with the Collector as its chairperson. The District Counselling Centre has been established under it,” Collector Anand Mohan, who inaugurated it along with SP Visvesh Balasubramaniam Sastri, told DT Next.

The centre will function in coordination with the School Education, Higher Education, Technical Education, Social Welfare, Health, and Police departments, and District Child Protection units. Students below 18 will be handled by the School Education Department and District Child Protection Unit, while the Social Welfare Department will handle youth aged above 18.

The personal details of students and their parents approaching the centre will be kept confidential. A professional psychologist will also be appointed soon, and the centre will function on working days from 10 am to 5 pm.

The Collector added that they were looking for a well-trained child psychologist to provide counselling to students facing serious problems at the Centre. Counsellors from the Social Welfare Department would provide counselling in normal cases, he said.

The district administration is also setting up state-of-the-art facilities exclusively for counselling students, similar to those available in private institutions, he said, adding that a child psychologist would be appointed within this month.