Stop ragging!

Ragging is a social menace that plagues the higher educational institutes of Sri Lanka. The severity of the issue is so gripping that every year several deaths have been reported due to this. Young and vulnerable students who enter educational institutions, due to the lack of awareness, feel that ragging is the only pathway to form supporting friendships – especially those of senior students. But must a student’s mental well-being be compromised in the name of a so-called ‘bond-building culture’?

“Stop The Ragging” Session organised by the Rotaract Clubs of Centennial United, CFPS Law School, NIBM, Rathnapura, Peace City Hatton, Killinochi Town, Nallur Heritage and SLIIT in conjunction with the Break The Chain campaign was aimed at bringing light to this. The significant lack of knowledge amongst the new undergraduates about ragging and legal sanctions that could be pressed against offenders were the main points of focus.

With the pandemic situation all university students are stuck at home for over a year now, providing a perfect timely opportunity to work towards awareness-building on this pressing issue. Since no students physically engage with one another, there is no exposure to university sub-cultures.

These sessions were conducted via zoom and were trilingual – the first session on Tamil was conducted on 1st of August and the second and third were Sinhala and English held on the 14th and 15th of August respectively. An experienced panel of speakers, part of the Break The Chain Campaign, addressed several concerns and educated the audience on their legal rights.

Touching more than 350 students across the country, the discussions highlighted several methods by which first-year students could save themselves and effectively report such incidents in their respective institutions.