The center for educational and psychological research at the University of Baghdad organized a on the dangers of suicide in the time of Coronavirus despite the absence of accurate data on the increase or the decline of suicide cases in the Arab countries during 2020, especially in Iraq in light of the reservation of the ministries of interior and health towards the open recognition of this phenomenon. The researchers revealed that Iraq recorded 298 suicides in all provinces where the number of male suicides reached 168 and females 130, namely 68 cases in Baghdad, 39 cases in Basra and 33 cases in Dhi Qar.
The lecturers gave a number of recommendations, including calling for a serious act by the government to address this phenomenon in all its aspects and to activate the role of psychological rehabilitation centers and national teams to restore people’s trust in government measures, as well as to launch media campaigns to highlight the dangers of this phenomenon on the younger generations and how to reduce it. Another lecture addressed the positive and negative effects of children’s use of smartphones, where the researchers stressed the need for parents to monitor their children use of smartphones and internet access through some applications that allow parents to monitor what their children post on internet and the content they share. The lecturers reached at several recommendations, including increasing the level of control over children’s shared content, reduce the time children spend using smart devices, encourage and direct children to use smartphones in the correct way.
