About 33 per cent of students enjoy being ragged

Hyderabad: Nearly 40 per cent students who participated in a psycho-social study mandated by the Supreme Court admitted to being ragged while about 33 per cent said they enjoyed being ragged. 

Around 45 per cent students said they felt bad initially but later felt it was all right. 

About 84 per cent students said they did not complain when ragged and 41 per cent said they were not sure whether authorities would take action against seniors.

The study reported that 38 per cent of students said they did not want to harm their seniors’ career by complaining about ragging.

Besides, 36 per cent students felt ragging prepared them to deal with harshness of the outside world. 

There are numerous negative impacts of ragging which include psychological problems, fighting, injuries and deaths. Many students have developed fear and reduced trust and ability to develop friends after ragging.

A four-member committee has submitted its report, ‘Psychosocial Study of Ragging in Selected Educational Institutions’ to the UGC and made recommendations to curb ragging.

According to the recommendations, higher education institutions should organise welcome and orientation programmes for students at the beginning of every academic session through which a clear message should be sent regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. 

Prof. Prakash Kona, Proctor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), said, “It has been observed that students who come from rural backgrounds are more affected by ragging. Urban students are more intrigued with ragging. If it is just a form of communication and if it is mildly done with good humour, it is okay to break the ice with different groups. If it goes beyond the limit, it becomes horrible. I think knowing the limits is really important than not communicating at all.’’