Students of Carmel High School take part in the interactive session on the school premises in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Aug. 17: Students of Carmel High School received tips this morning on ways to deal with various health problems that adolescents face.

The girls satiated their curiosity by asking the experts questions about both physical and psychological changes that youths of their age go through.

The alumni association of the school organised the event titled “Awareness and education programme for adolescent girls” under the banner of Bihar Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society in association with the department of reproductive biology of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences.

Students of classes VIII to XII attended the session. Most of them found the session to be interesting and informative.

Shivangini Chari, a Class XII commerce student, said: “I am lucky that I can share most of my problems with my parents. However, the parents of many of my friends are not that open-minded. When we do not get proper counselling, adolescents tend to deviate from the right path.”

Shivangini added that to prevent this parents should be friendly with their wards so that they do not have to go elsewhere to seek answers to their queries.

“The programme was very informative and was organised at the right time when youngsters actually need answers to lots of questions.”

Dr Kalpana Singh and Dr Sweta Singh, both passouts from the school’s 1988 batch, conducted the programme. They spoke on a number of issues like physical changes, including pimples and change in body structure and emotional changes, like alteration in behaviour. The experts gave a PowerPoint presentation to elaborate the issues and spoke at length on how to deal with them.

They laid emphasis on healthy diet, regular exercise and awareness. Girls were also told how to prevent diseases, include HIV/AIDS, anaemia and osteoporosis. The students, too, had many questions for the experts. A girl asked why boyfriends are a cause of stress to adolescent girls.

Dr Kalpana replied: “At this stage, the body witnesses certain hormonal changes. There is a curiosity to interact with the opposite sex. Those who study in a girls’ school are usually more curious. As such, girls are not aware of a boy’s psychology, their curiosity is even more. So, it can be a cause for stress.”

The doctors also spoke on the importance of monogamy. They also advised the girls to cut down on loud music, laptops and social networking on the Internet to allow the brain to sleep in peace.

Sister Sujata, the principal of the school, agreed to a suggestion made by the girls regarding orientation programme for the parents.