Suicide |
|
|
|
|
||
|
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Eighteen teenagers a day kill themselves. Every 80 minutes another teenager commits suicide.
What are the reasons? Peer pressure, divorced parents, being overweight, feeling left out of the group at school, drug abuse, unwanted pregnancy, alcoholism. The list goes on and on. What can we do as a nation, what can you do as one person to help stop these senseless tragedies? Suicide is America's second-largest killer. Over one hundred teens a week kill themselves. In a years time the total comes to a staggering 6,500 lives lost. Add to that the number of people directly affected by suicides-parents, family, members friends, classmates. Those left behind are perplexed and grieving. They are left with the burning question, WHY?
It is estimated that over a thousand teenagers try unsuccessfully to kill themselves every day, almost one a minute. Many of the attempts are not intended to succeed; they are cries for help. But even so, thousands of teens permanently maim themselves in botched attempts.
Many coroners will not rule a death a suicide if no note is left. Only a small percentage of suicides leave anything in writing. On many death certificates suicide is disguised, to protect insurance benefits or to shield a family from embarrassment. In our society a stigma is placed on suicide.
The main reasons teens commit suicide:
In a home with two wage-earners, teens get to spend little time with their parents. They have not just less quality time, but less quantity time. Less time means less guidance.
|
||
|
|
||