Cindy, Juliette’s mother, walked into the attic and found a sight she was not prepared for. Expecting her daughter to be sitting on the floor doing homework or watching television on the couch, but she was hanging from the wooden rafters; her face as pale as a ghost’s. Juliette was only sixteen years old and her life was now over. Looking back now, Cindy realized that Juliette had been showing signs of depression ever since her sister was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Cindy blames herself because she should have gotten her daughter counseling or some other form of help, but she thought that Juliette was still getting over her sister’s death. A teen suicide is a tragic incident to happen in anyone’s life, but most people do not realize if their teen is possibly considering suicide. The third leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages fifteen to twenty-four is suicide. An examination of suicide by sex indicates that in the United States, nearly five times more 15- to 19-year-old boys than girls committed suicide in 1998 (NCHS, 2000b). Firearms are the most common way of committing suicide; with hanging being the second most common. When a teen commits suicide it could be because they are suffering from depression, being bullied at school, or dealing with a lot of stress. These issues can be very serious to teens that are trying to get their lives together and everything just seems to be going wrong. They begin to feel like there is no way out, so they consider suicide, but they quickly dismiss it. Then things keep getting worse and worse until they think suicide is their only way out, therefore they end their life; leaving a wake of hurting behind for their family (Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior... ... middle of paper ... ... Buffalo News, The (NY) 07 Apr. 2013: Newspaper Source. Web. 27. 2014. Gould PhD, MPH, Madelyn, and Rachel Kramer ScD. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. Issue Supplement s1. 31. The American Association for Suicidology, 2001. 6-31. Print. Khadarroo, Stacy Teicher. “Teen Suicide: Prevention is Contagious, Too.” Christian Science Monitor 08 Dec. 2013: N.P.A.G. Newspaper Source. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. King, Keith A. “Preventing Adolescent Suicide: Do High School Counselors Know The Risk Factors?.” Professional School Counseling 3.4 (2000): 255. Vocational and Career Collection. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. Mulrine, Anna. “Preventing Teen Suicide: It Starts With Straight Talk.” U.S. News & World Report 127.24 (1999): 64. Middle Search Plus. Web. 27 Feb. 2014 Peacock, Judith. “Chapter 7: Suicide Prevention.” Teen Suicide (2000): 44. Book Collection: Nonfiction. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
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.
There have been many instances of suicide that have occurred in the past years at universities across the country, and since it is such a sensitive subject, there have not been nearly enough coverage as this topic deserves, considering this issue does not seem to be going away. When collecting data about suicide statistics, the age range is broken down as people ages 15-24, which spans most developmental years. Within this bracket are college-age students and this age-group has by far the most troubling statistics around it.
A 17 year old boy, Douglas Stewart, came home from school to find his mother lying on the sofa with a strained back. Being concerned for her he rubbed her back briefly then put on some easy listening music. Douglas then proceeded downstairs to his bedroom. Two of his friends came to the door. His mother waited to see if he would return to answer it; minutes later she answered and then yelled for him to come up. When he did not come, she went downstairs to get him. That is when she found him strangled and her son’s body dangling from the ceiling. This is a senseless tragic sight for a mother to endure. The mortality rate from suicide in 1996 showed 9.5 per 100,000 for 15-19 year olds. This also shows boys are four times more likely to commit suicide then girls. However, girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide. (American 1996) It is imperative to reverse this trend and in doing so we need to understand the characteristics, behaviors and events associated with youth suicide.
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
Aseltine, R. H. (2003). An Evaluation of a School-Based Suicide Prevention Program. Adolescent & Family Health, 2: 81–88.
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established that 6.3% of high school students have attempted suicide in the preceding year. Given the lethal consequences of suicide attempts, determining risk factors among adolescents becomes especially important. Generally speaking, psychiatric disorders and substantial psychosocial impairments are known to be associated with suicide attempts. However, previous research attempting to identify specific risk factors in adolescents is somewhat ambiguous. Nonetheless, one thing is consistent. When measuring the risk of an adolescent committing suicide, information must come from a variety of sources and perspectives. These sources may include but are not limited to a clinical interview with the adolescent, information provided by the parent or guardian, standardized assessments and previous psychiatric documents from the individual.
Each year, thousands of our children are dying, not from cancer or car accidents, but by their own hands. They make the choice to take their lives. The number of teenagers who take their lives is rapidly increasing each year. Teen suicide has increased four-fold in the last few decades and is now the third leading cause of death among youth 15-25 years of age('Teen Suicide,';NP). In youth 5-14 years of age, suicide is the sixth leading cause of death('TeenSuicide,';NP). Teen suicide is out of control and no one seems to realize just how bad the issue is becoming. Society needs to be more aware of the causes and warning signs that often lead to suicide in young children.
Suicide is the third leading cause of teenage death in the United States. If this is the case why wouldn’t there be more prevention programs out there for these teenagers? Suicide prevention in schools is up for debate on whether or not it would have a positive effect on teenagers, or a negative impact on their state of mind. According to the study “A Review and Application of Suicide Prevention Programs in High School Settings,” by Gregory Cooper, Cooper declares that in the long run prevention programs in schools would be beneficial to suicidal students. However, Dena Wanner the author of the study “The Impact of a Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program on Knowledge, Attitudes, Awareness, and Response to Suicidal Youths,” believes that
Suicide is the third ranking cause of death in the fifteen to twenty four age ranges. Days after Richard Kirchhoff’s son committed suicide, he decided he wasn’t going to keep quiet. “Most people don’t like to say the ‘s-word’, which is part of the problem” (Richard Kirchhoff) is a public speaker against teen suicide; he tries to help families understand that they are not alone in anything. Kirchhoff urges parents to sign a form stating that they want to see the progress their student is having in school and how many times they have visited the campuses medical visits.
After taking a look at the numbers of suicide, most would be amazed. For example, by the time one reads this paragraph there will be someone attempting to commit suicide, but only 5% of people actually take their lives. Over 80% of these people had problems with their social life in which they lost a good portion of friends or had a “major” problem with their image or self esteem. About half the teens in this country have had thoughts of suicide cross their minds on a monthly basis. Each teen was know to have a deep drop in motivation. In a study of 59 suicidal teens there was reported that only 7 parents knew about what their child was going through. Something more shocking is that out of 36 teens who made a suicide attempt, only 2 parents were aware. The potential risk of suicide appears when a kid has depression and anxiety or even hopelessness. Remember that teens always need to be shown the unconditional love from their immediately family and parents (Langwith,26).
Did you know that the second leading deaths in 13 to 19 year olds in the United States is suicide besides homicides! The author, Barbara Mantel who wrote the article “Teen Suicide” may have focus more on logos and pathos and not enough on ethos. Her main idea was stating that new studies such as school prevention programs, therapy and medicine or even screenings will have an effect on suicidal victims. Thinking that these studies, will increase understanding of teen suicides and lead to a better identification and treatment of high risk teens. Although she may have been lacking ethos in her article, her other rhetorical reasons are very effective
Kuklin, Susan. After a Suicide: Young People Speak up. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1994. Print.
Teen suicide as an extremely complex tragedy, that unfortunately happens all the time throughout the United States. There are friends, parents, and peers that are facing the misfortune of losing a young, close, loved one to suicide. Most people don't realize that adolescent suicide is common. They don't want to believe how often this occurs in the secure environment found in the small towns of America, as well as in its largest cities.
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.
Keith A. King, and Rebecca A. Vidourek. "Teen Depression and Suicide: Effective Prevention and Intervention Strategies." The Prevention Researcher (2012): 15. Web.