People kill themselves in universities: flash mobs throughout Italy

(ANSA) - ROME, 04 FEB - The case of the suicidal student, found in the IULM toilets on Wednesday morning, continues to cause discussion.

The Union of University Students has launched a series of flash mobs throughout Italy to denounce the incident and prevent the spotlights from going out.

   "In the last three years - recalls Camilla Piredda, coordinator of the Union of University students - at least ten university students have committed suicide. And these are only the known cases: in fact, there are further episodes of suicides, attempted suicides and acts of self-harm that are not brought to the attention of the media

   Our fear is that interest in youth malaise and mental health will rapidly wane. We do not accept that after this new tragic case

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   The Unione degli Universitari has thus decided to organize flash mobs in Italian university cities: so far Milan, Perugia, Palermo, Sassari, Lecce, Florence, Cagliari, Modena have been involved;

in the coming days it will be the turn of Pavia, Messina, Forlì and other cities.

In some symbolic places of the city, the students displayed a banner bearing the lapidary words "One cannot die in university.

   Against a merit that kills!".

   Piredda continues: "We believe that the problem starts from an increasingly performative university model, in which the pressure to which male and female students are subjected is very strong: as the IULM university students have written, it is absolutely necessary to achieve certain results, one must act quickly, not c "It's time to waste. And if you don't make it, you're a failure."

   "What we are asking with these flash mobs and with a special letter sent to the ministry by the president of the CNSU - concludes the University Union - is to abandon the narrative of performance and speed as absolute objectives. It is not an abstract discussion: one can intervene on the regulations tutoring tools and teaching support, on specific methods of recovery in the event of problems arising during the course of study.Furthermore, it is necessary to act urgently on the protection of the psychological health of the student community, strengthening the counseling desks offered by the universities and integrating a of widespread, free and accessible psychological assistance. To do this, however, we need a clear political will and adequate resources, which are currently lacking".

   (HANDLE).