Factors that Leads Teens to Commit Suicide

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Several factors, emotional and physical, can contribute to a teen’s decision to take his or her own life. Adolescent suicide rates have no doubt risen over the past 50 years, but the question is, why? As our world continues to advance decade by decade, modern-day teenagers experience problems that are quite different than those faced by teens from previous generations. One distinct, modern influence of teenage suicide is social media. Naturally, most teenagers today own or have access to a smart phone, computer, or other device that can be used to connect to the internet and view a countless number of social websites. Social media can be entertaining and a fun, fast way to connect with friends and family, but it also has its disadvantages.
Many teens today know someone or have been a victim themselves of a negative aspect of social media called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is the act of harassing, tormenting, or embarrassing someone else over the internet, sometimes anonymously. Even though this type of bullying happens online, it can still have a huge impact on a teenager’s life. People known as cyber bullies tend to feel like they have more power when harassing someone online, and most importantly, that they will not get caught. The biggest issue with cyber bullying is that there is no easy way to avoid it. Unlike real-life bullying, cyber bullying does not just end when school does. Victims of online bullying are up to nine times more likely to commit suicide than teens who have never been cyber bullied (“11 Facts About Cyber Bullying” 1).
Although it is definitely a contributing factor of teen suicide, social media is not the only one to blame. Television shows that broadcast the news and provide coverage on other teen sui...

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... or occasionally just out of curiosity. The mental and physical side effects of drugs and alcohol in teenagers can be more harmful than in adults, due to age and underdevelopment. In addition to these distractions, certain teens may get involved in other dangerous activities, such as gang affiliation. Teens associated with gangs often do not realize the extremeness or seriousness of them and are never fully prepared for what lies on the road ahead.
Teenagers are often characterized by their impulsive nature. Due to the possession of this quality as well as the lack of realization of possible consequences of one’s actions, the adolescent suicide rate is much higher than that of any other age group. Teens are more prone to be victims of suicide than adults because they do not understand that an act of taking one’s own life is serious and cannot be undone (Portner 7).

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