I truly believe that if there were more advocates for middle schoolers, teen suicides would decrease, graduation rates would increase, and students would grow up to be more well rounded and accepting of others. The middle school years serve to segregate the overachievers from the underdogs. To not give kids a chance to reach their full potential is unethical, especially if they are suffering, whether they are struggling at home or at school, socially or emotionally. Everyone becomes so caught up in the bigger picture like school ratings and publicity that kids slip through the cracks. In this day and age, undiagnosed mental disorders are all too common but by spending five minutes with a student, it is fairly simple to tell if they need help and to begin pinpointing what the problem is. If administration simply took the time to talk to students and find out about their lives then I think that there is something that can be done to help. Maybe we need more guidance counselors. Maybe it's something else, but something must change. I personally nearly slipped through the cracks myself and I've seen it happen to other people, including close friends of mine and I will no longer sit here silently and watch more kids suffer. …show more content…
Many don't even know that others are going through the same things they are.
My goal is to start a free tutoring program, perform music and put on concerts, using donations from them to fund the program. I'd also like to make informational brochures more accessible for students that may be too shy to reach out in person for help. Free seminars featuring professionals and teen guest speakers should be held nationally at middle schools. I'm going to advocate for students until the day I die but I'm not dying until I know that they're in good hands so I need to stand up do
Methods Analysis." Journal of Youth & Adolescence, vol. 46, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 1598-1610.
The majority of society knows a loved one suffering from depression, identity crisis, or low self-esteem. Self-injury and suicide have become a large topic of discussion in today’s world. In order to comprehend the factors that contribute to the act of self-inflicted death, one must understand the history, victim profile, forms of suicide, causes, symptoms and signs, and prevention. Understanding this information can help individuals understand a loved one’s struggle with suicide, as well as spread knowledge to others dealing with depressive thoughts. Media, technology, and entertainment have rapidly progressed in our world, which has established a new self-image. Social media has indirectly generated a new standard of life everywhere advertisements allow, while celebrities set the bar for body image. As people are confronted with, and compare themselves to this new standard, their self-image becomes distorted and their self-esteem begins to diminish. The causes of self-inflicting death seem to be quite broad, yet are mainly centered around the mood disorders such as depression. Although detecting this mental disorder is sometimes difficult, there are symptoms such as withdrawal, change of mood, feelings of helplessness, loss of interest or suicide, that indicate its presence.
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.
Price, Tom. "Social Media and Politics." CQ Researcher 12 Oct. 2012: 865-88. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.
Middle school finally hit full force and it was horrible. I was still smart, but mentally I was screwed up. I was suicidal and was a cutter. My mom didn’t and never will know the hell I went through. Every night was a battle between me and my thoughts. I was called ugly, fat and loser and that’s how I felt. I almost committed suicide ten times, but my thoughts always went to my mom and how she would be left alone or how I always wanted to go to college and be successful. School continued I became really smart. I was shy and kept to myself. I joined the Tennis team and became really good and ended up being first doubles in eighth grade. I remember being in band class and I was the only Latino kid that took pride in who they were. I listened
If I wanted to help decrease the rate of teenage suicide, I would interview suicide survivors and people who had tried to commit suicide but didn't. I would interview them about what led them to the decision that they wanted to commit suicide, but then ask about all the good things that have happened to them since they decided not to or were not able to complete it. I would want them to spend a lot of time describing their hardships and how they felt that the pain was inescapable and how they felt like everyone might be better off without them, and then I would want them to spend a longer time describing the happiness that they have experienced and all the little things that make them happy now. For example, maybe one of the survivors talks
I think it should be held by the Department of Health. The Department of Education could create a required class and teach it in the schools on mental health and options available. I think this will help teens who have illnesses/ suicidal thoughts and it will help to prevent kids thinking about it. The Department of Education could also hold one on one counseling sessions at school. I know that there are counselors at the school, but many kids feel that they don’t listen and can't trust them. Romeo and Juliet felt like they couldn’t trust anyone but themselves. These special counsellors should be available all through the school day. Romeo and Juliet didn’t feel understood. Everyone should feel understood.
Teen suicide is increasing in America in teens age’s 14-17,young males,minorities;through the availability of guns,alcohol,drugs,and lack of support.
Kutner, Max. "Teen Suicide Is Contagious, and the Problem May Be Worse Than We Thought;
Teen suicide is one of the largest problems facing America at the moment, and it will only become worse if the country does not come up with a solution. “According to the American Psychiatric Association, suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people between eleven and eighteen years of age (Teen Suicide).” American families can not keep losing sons and daughters to this entirely preventable epidemic. The largest issue with teen suicide is that Americans are using largely outdated and/or ineffective strategies in dealing with teen suicide, and Americans need to realize that this problem will not just go away. Using the old methods, such as telling teens to toughen up, are clearly not working and in some cases are contributing to the problem. Teen suicide is alarmingly on the rise and “According to the CDC, 5,504 people ages 10 to 24 died by suicide in 2014, the most recent year in which statistics are available. The figure was up from the grim 2013 tally of 5,264, and the number has risen every year and up 13 percent from 2010 (Corbin).” There are several causes for teen suicide that range from depression to concussions, and for each cause there are several proposed solutions to suicide or its causes, but many of the solutions will cause more problems instead of solving current ones, Americans need to utilize effective suicide prevention strategies and ignore the useless and outdated ones.
Suicide is a major problem and concern in our society, especially when it is the third leading cause of death among adolescents (Bean & Baber, 2011). Many factors contribute to teen suicide such as substance abuse, depression, anger, and loneliness (McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter, & McWhirter, 2013). Thus, it is crucial for counselors, teachers, and parents to recognize what the factors are to help prevent more teens from takin their lives. You mentioned catastrophic worldview as a risk factor associated with adolescent suicide. Per McWhirter et al (2013), having a catastrophic worldview means the individual has a negative view of the world and the future (p. 260). Although the world is in chaos with wars, poverty, and racism it
What happened? The parents of an 18-year-old student are suing Loudoun County Public School counselor and the school district in Virginia, for damages for the deprivation of their son amounting to Five million dollars for damages for mental torture, the loss of future security and upkeep of their son and funeral expenses. The counselor violated LCPS’ standards, after learning the teen was at risk of taking his life, giving no notice to the student’s parents or principal and not setting up a suicide prevention plan with the teen (Balingit, 2016). Another complaint was also cited in the article of a pupil in 2015 from the same high school under the direction of the same counselor took her life. The advocate also informed by a friend that she
Main idea: Middle-school students are more likely to die from suicides then from car crashes
Teen suicide has become a problem that must be addressed. In today’s society it is not common for teens to discuss what is bothering them; instead they hold it inside as it gnaws at them, until they can take it no longer. Suicide has even become a sort of fad. Many celebrities, idols, and musicians have been in the news for talking about suicide, and some have even carried it out. Some of the most recents are Brad Bufanda of the ‘Veronica Mars’ show, and Chester Bennington of the rock band, ‘Linkin Park’. These people are who some teens look to for guidance, and if a musician has a song full of pro-suicide lyrics to resolve their problems; then it seems logical that an impressionable young mind would take that advice to resolve their own problems. It is prevalent in our society because we have shows such as ‘13 Reasons Why’, which is about a teenage girl who leads a troubled life. She has dealt with many problems emotionally and physically, at home and school; and eventually decides to commit suicide. She makes 13 tapes with one person each, giving a detailed description of why she's committed suicide and the 13 people that made her feel she had to do it. This show glorified suicide and almost made it seem as though if you can’t make a message while living, turn to suicide and everyone will be forced to listen. These aren’t the types of messages we need imprinted upon teens, especially those who have or will contemplate suicide.
The world is such a cruel place for teens. We are stuck in between being an adult and a child. We are treated differently based on our looks what we like who we like what we wear what music we listen to what shows we watch who we watch on youtube. And you wonder why suicide is the number one leading cause of death among teens in america. There is 1 suicide for every 25 attempted suicides. Males make up 79% of all suicides, while women are more prone to having suicidal thoughts. 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year. There are 2 times as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS. Yet no one does anything about it. Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. 17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month or more within a school semester. 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% of the time. This proves teachers do nothing when they see a student being bullied. We get bullied for just about everything. For example, how smart we are if we are considered pretty enough, if we play sports or not. Who here has heard of challange day and who has gone? Whoever has gone to challange day if you truly paid attention you would have learned a lot about my life and what i've gone through. We do this activity where there are two likes parallel to each other and we are told to stand on one side. After we are all on one side they ask