Kate Wells
Kendra Gallos
English 3 Honors
21 November 2017
Teen Suicide Prevention: Putting Meaning Back Into the Lives of Young
“Statistics reveal that in the US approximately...nearly one million people attempt suicide each year” ("Suicide Risk Among Abused Children."). Suicide is not an act of randomness. It is a result of prolonged feelings and/ or events, which push that person to extremes they desperately want out of. Suicide rates are amongst the highest in teens, due to their lack of support systems. During these years many are trying to find-out who they are and fit in, thus many get accepted into some people’s views, but there are also a good number that get ignored and feel like they do not belong anywhere. Teen suicide can be a result of a home-life of abuse or mistreatment, psychological disorders, and lack of social support-bullying; however, through the education on the warning signs of suicide, providing more emotional outlets at schools, and creating safer environments the number of annual victims can be decreased. Living in a house full of mistreatment and abuse can eat away at a teenager more than many would like to admit. Abuse (physical, sexual, psychological) has no benefits, instead it causes individuals to see themselves as not enough and that they are not wanted anywhere. Teenagers are already vulnerable to the pressures of high school, and trying to find themselves. In school there are many stressors- such as grades, friends, teachers,
The rate of suicide, the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally, increases each year. “More adolescents die each year from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined” (Preventing Teen Suicide, 2016, p.2). These facts show suicide is a serious problem among teens. Last year, teen suicide became the second leading cause of death in the United States confirming the significant increase in teen suicides.
Discovering one’s identity, struggling to understand one’s conventionally appropriate gender role, accepting one’s body image, gaining independence from parents, maintaining responsible sexual relationships along with enduring vehement hormones, establishing values relating to marriage and parenthood, and simultaneously managing academic goals, extracurricular activities, and occupational preparations are all psychological and social demands placed on the adolescent. These demands, along with additional factors, such as bullying, drug use/domestic substance abuse, domestic violence, divorce of parents, rape/sexual assault, loss of a loved one, heartbreak, low socioeconomic status, health problems, race, ethnicity, struggles with self-identification, and other traumatic experiences can all increase one’s likelihood to commit suicide.
There is at least 113 suicides each day or 1 every 13 minutes. Suicide among males is the seventh leading cause of death and the fourteenth leading cause in females. Most suicides are with a firearm and are carried out with a “ Saturday night special”. (Dilaura,Cynthia DiLaura) “More than 90 percent of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal. “ (Brady Campaign) There are a number of reasons why suicide occurs. Stress is the number one cause among our youth, bullies, peer pressure, depression, and abuse. 41,100 people committed suicide in the United States in 2013. Our young teens today does not take time to look deeper into there problem and to seek out a better solution. They are looking for a quick fix but not realizing once the trigger is pulled the result is final with no turning back. Most people who has attempted suicide is more likely to try a second attempt and most have an underlying mental illness. There is many warming that someone may be in a suicide crisis. We most learn how to see things through their eyes. No matter what one is facing in life or the difficult that lie ahead of them Nothing is worth taken your own
Thesis: While Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, I believe That Suicide is wrong.
Lives are slowly being lost due to suicide and not only is it affecting themselves but also the people who are around them. Suicide is defined as taking of one’s own life and it is an issue that should be given all attention to. Teen suicide has been talked about in every source of media and it still continues to have a harmful effect in todays generation. In the United States the eighth leading cause of death is suicide, within developing teens, suicide is the third leading cause of their deaths (NAMI). There are many signs of someone who is contemplating suicide. And there are many reason for someone to be driven to the point of suicide. Those reasons being if the teenager is dealing with depression, bullying, sexual abuse and abuse
This issue is relevant to the world because so many teens struggle with depression, bullying, or abuse and kill themselves over it. The website American Foundation for Suicide Prevention states that “Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. Each year there are 44,965 Americans that die.”
Joseph Connelly Gazzola used to be a Northeastern University football star. He has since taken his own life, and it has hit everyone he knew very hard.
Suicide has become a big issue in today's generation, especially for teens. Suicide is now known as the third leading cause of death among youth all around the world between 10 and 19 years of age. In the article, Preventing youth suicide-tips for parents and educators, the author states, “Teens are more prone to suicide because of the many difficult risks they may face today”, such as many teens face bullying in their schools, self-esteem problems, family dysfunction, drug addictions or it can be the simple fact that they are not mentally stable or have a mental illness like depression. However, suicide is preventable. Many teens who may be contemplating suicide frequently give signs, or approach in a different behavior. Some of these signs may include, suicidal threats, prior suicidal behavior, self harm acts, or change in behavior. It is crucial that parents, educators, and friends or family members notice these signs before the teen makes an effort to conduct an irreversible act. Many schools are taking role in suicide
Yet researchers and mental health professionals cannot pinpoint why the rate has climbed, and they know little about what causes someone thinking about suicide to attempt it. As a result, suicide-screening tools are not very effective, and most school-based suicide-prevention programs may not reduce teen suicides. But researchers are hopeful that new studies, including large trials of three kinds of psychotherapy in adolescents, will help in understanding teen suicide and lead to better identification and treatment of high-risk teens. Meanwhile, many states are requiring instructors to be trained to recognize and respond to potentially suicidal students. Also, researchers have begun studying into physical brain characteristics that could be connected to teen suicide. It’s difficult to pinpoint why exactly suicide death rates have risen among teenagers. But Kelly Posner, a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University, says possibilities include a growth in social media and cyber bullying; a drop in antidepressant use after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 required antidepressant labels to carry a warning of possible suicide risk for children and adolescents; and the weak economy. There have been many reports on young teens that post online their last message, and
Some things I have learned about the act was that it's not alright to assist suicide from a help of a doctor because if assist suicide was legal some people would abuse it's power I would say assist suicide should be allowed for some patients because if they can't talk, walk, or do anything on their own then they should be allowed to make that final decision to assist suicide. For example, Robert Latimer killed his daughter using carbon monoxide because his daughter was always in pain from cerebral palsy. This topic is sensitive because it's about people making the decision to kill themselves. Also, this topic could be sensitive because people could get really emotionally because maybe someone in their family have committed suicide, which could
Juvenile suicide cases occur often in the U.S.. Juvenile suicide is very bad and should be prevented. I, personally, am totally against Juvenile Suicide. These juveniles barely experience life but they feel so helpless and hopeless. They tend to feel helpless enough in the moment to commit suicide or to even have suicidal thoughts. Majority of the time, these moments come from a psychological disorder, depression, bullying, or alcohol and drug use.
Every year about 4,400 innocent people take their life for unnecessary reasons. (Elias 5,3) Whether it is due to personal problems, bullying or feeling not wanted. Although the teen suicide rates have not significantly increased or decreased within the last several decades (Elias 1,2)We want loved ones, class mates or friends still here with us to experience a life. But instead, there always has to be ruthless people in this world. Also some selfish people who just care about themselves and never see or ask how anyone else is. Someone whose life is already ruined tries to talk or plan about suicide to another person to try to get their life over with, so the messed up person who has a ruined life does not have to worry about anyone else who has such a good life ahead of them. (Alison 5,6)Teen suicide is an important issue because it threatens so many lives that have great potential.
Suicide is the third leading cause of deaths in adolescents in the United States. Teen suicide is also often referred to as a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Teens so often are suicidal and attempt suicide as a call for help from others. They have no intention in dying they are just trying to cry out for help from anyone that will listen. Many reasons cause teen to attempt suicide, varying from bullying to psychological disorders. In fact, psychological disorders accounts for about 90% of teens who attempt or commit suicide. Teenagers are also at higher risk of suicide when they are under
Nobody ever thought that Tyler Clementi- an 18 year old freshman at Rutgers University- would jump off the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. But after a video was streamed of Clementi having a sexual encounter with another man without Clementi’s knowledge, Clementi committed suicide. The actual definition of suicide is “the action of killing oneself intentionally”. The act of suicide is a serious matter, and is particularly prevalent among teens and young adults. The best way to prevent teen suicide is through informing people of its existence, and educating them on the warning signs and prevention methods. In this essay I will explain why suicide is a major public health problem through statistics, show the warning signs,
Suicide is a major problem worldwide; especially for teenagers. Self image plays a big roll in American society today, especially in enabling someone to make a wrong and destructive decision like suicide. Self image and low esteem effect the chances of a teenagers suicide greatly. There are many events that lead up to a young persons suicide, for instance a little problem that seems inescapable which manifests themselves into overwhelming burdens. Detection and prevention are both key for adults and young people to stop suicide from happening.