Adolescent Suicide
Adolescent SuicideBy: Jill Holmes
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Becoming a teacher, entering into a wonderful profession, also deals with many difficult issues. The problems faced by the adolescents of today has greatly changed, and even increased, from earlier times. Adolescent suicide is a dreadful, and ghastly problem that, as an educator, numerous will run into. It raises many questions: What are the statistics, and in what ways do children attempt to carry out a suicide? What are the reasons behind it? What are the warning signs to look for? Is there a difference between males and females? Does educating the children about suicide increase the rate? Are these children mentally ill or possibly depressed? What should be taken seriously? Is an attempt just seeking attention? What ways can a teacher, or a person close to them, help? The statistics, that scare any rational human being, involve a number and percentage that is much too large, and it is the second leading cause of death for adolescents among the ages of 15 to 19. It is also the second for college students, with homicide being the third. It is the fourth leading cause for those 10 to 14 years old, and the rate has more than tripled since the 1950s. As of September 1999, the rate was 13.8 per 100,000 children that committed suicide. For 10 to 14 year olds, from 1980 to 1992, it increased 120%. Although, over the last decade, it has gone up a total of 200%. Some of the ways these children either attempt or commit suicide depends on what is available. A myth that suicide is painless, glorifying it in the movies does not help, and it does not relate to the fact that many methods chosen are very painful. The reality is, pills, drugs, hangings, guns, or most of the many ways, involve agony and hurting. Having a firearm in the house also contributes to the chance that they will use it. Out of the suicide victims, ages 10 to 24, there are 64% that use a gun to complete the act. Just having a weapon in the house is not the cause of the suicide. The reasons behind the action vary greatly, but there are some life changes in an adolescents' life that are very significant to them. It needs to be stressed that this emergency may not seem considerable to an adult looking at the situation, but is definitely meaningful to the child. It is not uncommon for young people to think about mortality, and even to wonder what effect their suicide would have on family and friends. These ideas, however, are not usually acted upon. The significant events in their life can be a crisis with their girlfriend or boyfriend all the way to a very negative remark or disposition from a parent or teacher. Anything in-between these, an important incident, can also trigger these thoughts or behavior. Students who have already had a lot of stress in their lives are going to...
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