Another teen suicide! What is going on?!

I'm really starting to become concerned.....this is about the 8th teen suicide within a 20 mile radius of each other in just the last 3 years!

This poor 13 year old boy shot himself in the boys bathroom at school. I know life is hard at that age but suicide among teens wasn't as common back in the 80's when I was a teen.

Does anyone have any theory's on what is causing the suicide rate among kids to increase?

www.myfoxdetroit.com...

reply to post by Hope4peace


Sad indeed! But look at the condition of the world we are living in.......

When I die, the biggest guilt that will die with me, is the fact that I brought a child into this crazy, evil world! (My daughter is 13) I can see how society and the schools have turned her into a materialistic monster with the help of her mother, who believes in sparing the rod and spoiling the child.

Just because they are young, does not mean they can't see the wrongs in our world! The shame is that perhaps all they needed was a caring adult to take a moment out their important lives and pay a little bit of attention to them....

I have not seen any scientific numbers to prove that teen suicide is any worse or better than what it was say 20 years ago.

What is different thought is the immediate and connected nature of information reporting which certainly adds to the perception of a specific type of an event happening more when in reality it could just be that their is more reporting about that event.

I can list quite a few reasons why this may be happening.

-Peer Pressure
-Bullying
-Cyber Bullying
-Bad Influence from Mass Media
-Fear of Coming out or Fear of not being Accepted.
-Economic Situation/Situation at home, etc

That's just some to name a few. Now it's just sad to see a young person with so much potential just off themselves.

My girlfriend had it real hard at school, she got bullied because she was smart and pretty, other girls were jealous, so they bullied her and spread rumors - It ruined her whole time in High School to be honest. The effects of been bullied made her more reserved, panicky and a worrier. She says if social media was around when she was going through this, she would of struggled more and god knows what she may have done - bullying is a real epidemic on social networking, a real issue that needs to be addressed - And I'm not talking about intrusive censoring, just more awareness and tougher punishments

Such a sad story, rest in peace.

reply to post by seeker1963


I hear ya...I have days where I feel guilty for bringing kids into this evil world.
I had bad depression as a teen and went through my share of suicidal thoughts but to actually go through with it....I dunno....kids these days are different...maybe they are actually wiser to the ways of the world and have less fear of the act of commiting suicide in itself. Or could there be a higher power taking them to spare them?!

Originally posted by opethPA
I have not seen any scientific numbers to prove that teen suicide is any worse or better than what it was say 20 years ago.

Isn't suicide the #1 killer of people between 18-25?

Originally posted by CALGARIAN

Originally posted by opethPA
I have not seen any scientific numbers to prove that teen suicide is any worse or better than what it was say 20 years ago.

Isn't suicide the #1 killer of people between 18-25?

Not according to this site which is actually pretty interesting to look at www.worldlifeexpectancy.com... .

That is not what I was saying in my reply either. What I am trying to say is information is way more readily available and accessible then at any point in the past and that can add to the perception that something is more or worse.

Maybe it's just really standing out to me because there are so many occurring in my local area in such a short time span.
I definitely agree that the cyber bullying is way out of hand. Back in the 80's we didn't have a computer to hide behind and making it so easy to spread rumors.

reply to post by opethPA


I somewhat agree with you on that but I really do believe that the suicide rate has increased.

it all goes back to the parents. bullys have been around forever, as well as peer presure. what is happening is a lack of parenting. people say we live in an evil world but whom has made it that way?

another problem is these fing pills they hand out like candy.

everyone wants to pass the buck, thats the real problem. the way i see it if someone wants to off themselfs, so be it. the world is over croweded as it is.

Originally posted by Hope4peace
reply to post by opethPA

 

I somewhat agree with you on that but I really do believe that the suicide rate has increased.

This page has an interesting study...

It shows that Suicide rates bottomed out at 10.4% in 2000 and have been on a gradual incline since then capping out at 12.4% in 2010.

www.afsp.org...

reply to post by Hope4peace

Originally posted by Hope4peace

I know life is hard at that age but suicide among teens wasn't as common back in the 80's when I was a teen.

If the percentage is a decrease or an increase, I do not know, but it should be taken into consideration that the overall population today, is much higher than it was back then.


1980 U.S. Resident Population - 226,542,199

2010 U.S. Resident Population - 308,745,538

reply to post by opethPA


That was an interesting study report....thanks for sharing.
I wish it showed the statistics within the teenage ages though.

Originally posted by Hope4peace
I'm really starting to become concerned.....this is about the 8th teen suicide within a 20 mile radius of each other in just the last 3 years!

This poor 13 year old boy shot himself in the boys bathroom at school. I know life is hard at that age but suicide among teens wasn't as common back in the 80's when I was a teen.

Does anyone have any theory's on what is causing the suicide rate among kids to increase?

www.myfoxdetroit.com...

That is a lot of suicides.

One of the reasons for it might be Werther Effect

(en.wikipedia.org...)

It is a pattern that has been noticed in suicides. When there is suicide in a particular region, which takes a lot of media space, then the suicide rate among similar age group increases. People in similar condition identify with the victim and see that that is the only solution.

I hope the police is taking a look in the serial killer possibility. There might be some anonymous internet pervert, who simply pushes the young people towards suicide.

I remember a situation that was in the news some time ago, when some perv had convinced a 15-year-old boy take himself naked in front of webcam, while believing he was showing himself to a girl from Spain... When he had recorded it, he gave him a solution: Kill yourself or I will upload it... And the boy made a suicide.

There is always similar possibility.

Or there might be an extreme bullying problem.

Originally posted by DocHolidaze
it all goes back to the parents. bullys have been around forever, as well as peer presure. what is happening is a lack of parenting.

I'm drawn to that way of thinking as well, or more specifically a lack of true communication between parent and child.

I made a genuine attempt at suicide many years ago aged 15. It was no cry for help, I had my goodbye letter in my pocket, walked up the local mountain far enough that if I changed my mind I couldn't get back, and took 300 painkillers washed down with whisky. When the substances kicked in and I could no longer stand up, I changed my mind, started sobbing, then passed out.
12 hours or so later I woke up in a cold early morning mist, disorientated, dizzy with blurred vision and stumbled my way back down the mountain. It was only when I saw people who noticed my crazy condition that I realised I was actually still alive.

I wanted out because I felt absolutely lonely and misunderstood by anyone who loved me. In fact, I didn't even feel loved at all. I couldn't talk to my parents, or rather, they couldn't talk to me unless it involved shouting and criticising me as a person, the emotional pain at that point in my life was deep enough for me to try to end it.

Many years later after being a 16yr old homeless runaway, my life is a beautiful experience filled with the love of many people - in that sense I am rich. I have my own late teen son and our relationship is filled with deep discussion about our feelings, life and everything. I have passionately made efforts to make our relationship one of trust and understanding so he never feels in a lost and hopeless position as I did.

He is unafraid to discuss anything with me when it's us as one to one because he knows he can absolutely trust that my thoughts and motivation is based solely on his happiness in getting through life. He knows my experiences and knows I never want him to feel there is no way out of anything. He's never been in trouble but knows I'll help him fix a situation first then advise after the event - my mobile number is the one he'll give to police if he ever makes a mistake as a testosterone fuelled teenager - although to be fair, I'd be really surprised if I ever get the call.

I help him with his homework and have done throughout his schooling, not just "have you done your work?" more "got anything you're struggling with and want a hand for an hour?" - he won his place into the selective school he's in after difficult exams at age 11, it was what he wanted and it was my job to give him all the help I could.

We're 'close friends' on Facebook, with no censoring of each others viewing privileges, so if something comes up on the newsfeed I'll often send him a private message with a carefully worded suggested line to stab back at anyone who needs it. We talk about everything from girls to rugby and it is a relationship where we comfortably discuss sex, drugs, and all the other challenges life throws up for young people, and importantly he knows that my life experience is real and always honest where advice is concerned.

A few weeks ago he told me that his friends are jealous and wish they had the same relationship with their dads. I was surprised because at the school he's in, most of the other dads are helicopter pilots, doctors, military officers, lawyers and the like, whereas I'm a scruffy builder with a used car. It turns out that all his friends feel sidelined by their dads and have a relationship which is almost staged and unreal, certainly not honest or a safe place to share emotions.

My lad is not poor financially, as I make sure he gets whichever gadget or whatever he needs to keep up with peer pressure, but his life is rich in emotion, understanding, honesty, love, and as importantly, my actual time and effort to listen to him.

I am not unique and it is not a difficult thing to do, but I think too many parents make up lame first world excuses to explain away their poor relationships with their kids - it takes effort, but the reward is worth more than anything I can think of in life - a happy young person who is not secretly considering suicide.

Someone very close to me attempted twice at 14 years old.
The mother tried so hard to get help, but the school brushed the bullying aside. The mother also had to limit internet and television because not only was the bullying problem unbearable, but the news and lamestream media blowing things out of proportion really got to the poor kid.
It was the mother's hard work and patience that helped most. She admitted once that it was difficult to watch everything her daughter did, but it was worth it.
The girl got better and is now directing her life toward a youth counselor career.

The bullying in her town was so bad last year that 8 young people made a suicide pact and succeeded.

Sad to say that many people have a quick answer.. "ahh toughen up", but how do you really do that when everything you're exposed to seems to be designed to make you wallow in your problems?

reply to post by DocHolidaze

I bet you would'nt feel that way if it was someone you love that removed themselves from here.
Still, i definitely agree with you-good,loving,supportive parenting is of paramount importance-i can certainly testify to what the opposite achieves-it makes for broken,angry,alienated people in so many cases.The "walking wounded",or maybe Dead young men and women walking,rather. I was one of the lucky ones that got it together in the end,but i have to stress that i spent many years on a very self-destructive path,due to the pain of growing up abused and unloved.In fact-it's nothing short of a bloody miracle that i am still here typing this.I do not exaggerate when i say that.My lifestyle was basically slow-mo suicide.My husband was very much my saving grace,to be quite honest.

I'm not saying that a child Has to have a mom and dad living a happy Brady Bunch type life-there are some amazing single parents everywhere,and right here on this site too-and i absolutely respect the heck outa responsible, devoted single parents,because i was one at a time myself,i know how hard it can be with being the sole provider in every aspect of life.
But every child DOES need at least one loving,devoted,decent person to be a caregiver and role model.Imo,if one's not willing to be there for one's child,if you cannot give of yourself and are not prepared to spend time making sure the child knows he/she is loved and has at least one person in the world who has their back,do not have children.If you are not willing or able to take the time to teach them the right set of values,to teach them self-respect and respect for others,to show them how loved and highly precious+valued they are,rather do not have children.
Being a parent is a billion times more than providing food and a roof over their heads-any dosshouse or soup kitchen can do that.

I get absolutely incensed when i hear of teenage suicides-because so many cases are caused by BULLYING.Maybe the UN should make themselves useful and launch a global campaign against BULLYING-so these pieces of feces who make other(usually decent,good) childrens' lives a misery to the point where they commit suicide can be shown up for what they are.

And i do not for one second fall for the line:"But they bully because of unhappy circumstances" Bull#e!!!!!!!!!!

I was an abused child,a bitterly unhappy,extremely angry child and teen.I felt alienated from the rest of the human race since i was a snotnosed lil kid-and yet i NEVER,NEVER ,not even once,took my misery out on another.I shall never go into details of my abuse here,or on any site,but believe me-if i could bear that much hostility and sadness in me,feelings of being worth NOTHING,disconnect from the entire species-and refrain from taking it out on other kids-BLOODYWELL ANYONE CAN.ANY AND EVERY ONE.
I say this because i would never expect from others what i can or will not do myself-really,being in pain yourself is NO excuse to take it out on other kids-and i felt this way being basically raised without a father,and by an extremely abusive,mentally disturbed mother and her two adult sons,a drug addict and a violent alcoholic.THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR BULLYING.

Reply to post by opethPA

It's 10.4 per 100,000, not 10.4%. The correct percentage would be .000104%, which had a "leap" to .000124%, or a change of +.00002%, which isn't a statistical abnormality or much of an indicator for an increased trend.


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