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The impact of teenage suicide
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The impact of teenage suicide
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To live is a very fragile and misunderstood term. Countless lives are taken unwillingly each day by mere accidents, while others are lost fighting to defend their countries’ beliefs. Some of these lives grow old, and some do not, but many are not being lived in the way they were intended. Somewhere along the lines in our society, people have the idea that their own life might not be worth living. Ending their life is called suicide, and it is becoming more and more popular among teenagers in this generation.
For people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, suicide is the third leading cause of death, only behind accidents and homicides (New, 2012). It was recorded in 1996, that more teenagers and young adults committed suicide than ones who died of cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease combined (Shaffer). A person in the United States under the age of twenty-five years old commits suicide every two hours and fifteen minutes (Fisher, 2006). This is approximately fourteen souls a day (Woodward, 2005). Research shows that for every completed suicide there are at least twenty- five attempts made (New, 2012). With this information, it adds up to about two million teenage suicide attempts per year (Siegel, McCabe, 2001).
Twenty-five percent of teenagers carry emotional baggage too heavy for what they believe their mind and body can handle in a healthy manner. This added stress can cause teenagers to turn to certain escapes like drugs, sex, violence, or eventually suicide (Kaywell, 2005). Overdosing with either prescription or non-prescription drugs is a very common choice that teens may make to end their lives, which proves that these unhealthy escapes ...
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...ers and every soul has a purpose. Prevention of teen suicide needs to become of utmost importance in our world today, and we all need to learn how to save a life.
Works Cited
Woodward, J. (2005). Teen suicide. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale.
New, M. J. (2012, Jan). About teen suicide. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/suicide.html
Shaffer, D. (n.d.). Teenage suicide. Retrieved from http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm
Fisher, D. (2006). Helping teenagers get through the worst: suicide. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ769347)
Siegel, D; McCabe, P. (2009). Gauging media influence on adolescent suicide rates. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ868106)
Kaywell, J. (2005).Teachers offering healthy escape options for teenagers in pain. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ734086)
According to Fowler, Crosby, Parks, and Ivey (2013), suicide and nonfatal suicidal ideations are significant public health concerns for adolescents and young adults. While the onset of suicidal behaviors is observed as young as six years of age, rates of death and nonfatal injury resulting from suicidal behavior are moderately low until 15 years of age (Fowler et al., 2013). According to Fowler et al (2013), the most current available statistics in the United States (U. S.) reported suicide as the third leading cause of death among youth aged 10-14 and 15-19 years, and it was the second leading cause of death among persons aged 20-24 years.
The main argument in this article is that there needs to be more ways to help people that are suicidal. The main point of this article is that they want to people to be more aware of how to help someone, and it is also full of information. The topics that are covered in the article are the issues at hand, the background with suicide in teens, and the next step that society needs to take. This article is about helping people that are suicidal and how to help them and let us know the next step that we need to take.
Her eyes were heavy, her body weak. As she crawled into the bathroom two feet away, Abby felt her body slowly succumbing to the numbness. All of her pain would be gone in less than 10 minutes, so why would she want to turn back? What about the senior trip Abby had planned with her best friend? What about the chair at the dinner table that would now be vacant? A couple of hours later Abby’s family came home from her little sister’s soccer game. Little did they know what they would find as they approached the top of the stairs. Her little sister, Ali, stood still as she looked down at her feet. There on the cold floor lay her big sister, her role model, and her super hero. Ali was crushed when she saw the pill bottle in her hand and the pale color of her skin. Her mom fell to her knees screaming and crying, wondering where she
Suicide is one of the youth’s ways out of their problems, not only in the United States but the world. What does drive teens to suicidal thoughts and actions? What are the ways communities help prevent teenage suicide? Perhaps there are signs can be pointed out that would indicate a problem. In two surveys in 1996, both reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health, both also asked relatively the same questions of the violent actions that some people may see in life’. Surprisingly, the numbers for many of the questions were the same, such as teens who witnessed a shooting first hand; they both were about 37% (Pastore, Fisher, and Friedman 321-2). Using information such as this, one cannot blame the recent rise in teenage suicide with the violent problems of life, but more along the lines of depression caused by multiple things, for instance body image. According to many researchers, alcohol is many times a solution to a teen’s problem with life and the hardships people face in it. Many people in the United States overlook the major problem of teenage suicide; this is a mistake
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
Vidourek, Rebecca A., Ph.D., and Keith A. King, Ph.D. “Teen Depression and Suicide: Effective Prevention and Intervention Strategies.” Prevention Researcher Nov. 2012: 15-17. Print.
A problem today that should be addressed is suicide among teens and young adults. Several lives are taken every year due to several unknown and known factors. Terribly shameful knowing all the help and hope that’s out there for victims, while on the other hand none of the victims may have ever even known a proper way to seek help (Miller). Risk factors leading up to suicide (also the known factors) include but not limited to: mental illness, childhood issues, isolation and loneliness, bullying and broader issues such as loss and personal pain (Bower). Not only should suicide be looked at as a big deal it should be looked at for what it truly is; “the third leading cause of death for ages 15-24 (Bower).” The problem does not stop when no longer mentioned, that only leaves room for more problems to occur. Not everyone with suicidal thoughts is willing to seek help, making the problem too common, something our society must deal with more and more today (Teen). Suicide is an important issue that should not be overlooked or merely talked
Teen suicide should never be on the minds of our youth. It’s a dreadful circumstance that happens almost on a daily basis. I chose this topic for my core assessment because I can relate to this topic. My cousin committed suicide when he was 19 years old. The pain and suffering that we as a family went through can’t even be described. Some say that people who commit suicide are selfish cowards who don’t think of their families when they act. Others say that the individual isn’t in their right mind to comprehend what is going on. I usually tend to lean towards the last assumption because personally, I feel that my cousin never committed suicide, his state of mind did. Teen suicide is one of the leading causes of death for adolescents in addition to accidents such as vehicles and drugs. My future career in law enforcement will deal with teen suicides. It’s inevitable. In addition, it’s the police officers responsibility as well as the families, and schools to detect the risk and prevent these suicidal behaviors by these teenagers. Yet, how are people supposed to know what teens are feeling deep down inside? Most teenagers can hide or act their feelings like professionals. Personally the best way to know what your teens are thinking or going through is talk to them on a daily basis; whether it’s at the dinner table or even while watching television. These measures will change your teenager’s life because he/she will know that someone cares and loves them.
Today, teenage suicide is considered a big issue in America. Many factors contribute to this action whether it is overdosing on alcohol and drugs, cutting ones wrist with a sharp object, or pulling the trigger of a gun to put an end to their existence. Suicide is on the rise due to many factors such as family issues, social issues, and psychological issues. Increased education and awareness for the victims and their families could drastically reduce the number of suicide attempts yearly.
Approximately, five teenagers attempted suicide each day (Haesler 2010 para. 1). The fact makes some group of people (especially the ones who are part of the society) concerned. Somehow, youth suicide will result in an unintentional sign for help (Carr-Gregg 2003, para. 1). Communities related to the victims will be affected mentally and they will feel grief, pain, and loss that are so great that it overcomes the economic ...
There are three main types of sociological perspectives in which you can perceive different sociological issues and concepts; structural-functional, symbolic-interaction, and social conflict. Structural-functional looks at society as a whole and how it works together. Symbolic-interaction is how different symbols spark particular thoughts and emotions by examining the meanings that people impose on objects, events and behaviors. Social conflict studies how power and coercion affect social order. Based off these types of perspectives, an analysis on teen depression and suicide can be evaluated from a sociological standpoint.
Throughout researching teen suicide for my I-search report, I have learned many things. That no matter where you live, even in a small, sheltered town, there lurks the devastating reality of teen suicide. That there is no escaping it, all you can do is try to prevent it. All though I found my topic extremely depressing, I also found an extreme profoundness while researching it. It made me realize just how lucky I am, that I am the one helping, not the one hurting.
Now the eighth-leading cause of death overall in the U.S. and the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, suicide has become the subject of much recent focus. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, for instance, recently announced his Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999, an initiative intended to increase public awareness, promote intervention strategies, and enhance research. The media, too, has been paying very close attention to the subject of suicide, writing articles and books and running news stories. Suicide among our nation’s youth, a population very vulnerable to self-destructive emotions, has perhaps received the most discussion of late. Maybe this is because teenage suicide seems the most tragic—lives lost before they’ve even started. Yet, while all of this recent focus is good, it’s only the beginning. We cannot continue to lose so many lives unnecessarily.
Suicide in adolescents is the third-leading cause of death in the United States between the ages of 10 though 19 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 292). More adolescents who think even about attempting suicide are mostly the ones who are unsuccessful at it. Females for example, are more likely than males to attempt to commit suicide by either over dosing on sleeping pills or self harming. Most adolescents’ girls will not succeed in actually committing suicide. Males on the other hand, use more drastic ways of committing suicide, adolescent boys usually with a firearm rather than another meth...
Look around at your peers in the school. How many of them wish they were dead? When 13.7% of males and 30.1% of females in 10th grade say they seriously consider committing suicide, we need think about what is wrong. What makes these 15 and 16 year olds that have so much of their life left to live want to die? 14% of teens said they tried to kill themselves. That’s like having 3 people in our class who have tried to commit suicide. The pressures of life at our age are difficult but they’re not so difficult that 4,135 teenagers a year should be killing themselves. The rate of teenage suicide has tripled since 1950, but why?