Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

Teenage suicide ... is it worth it?
By Shirtty Nf
Rick teemed to hive U all. The
dds« vx> of « weil-lo-du family, be
s **» abo • lop bright jtulera whh *
-. prmniiing future.
',. Lohnic, also from • well-to-do
tualK aod an only child, «n a
'trouNcd girl who had attempted
vvtefcfe once, aedftbd. She and Rkk .
fell in k>«, to ibe dUmay of their
, pBr3n.wburvcnru.Uy tried to brcrX
' up the coaplc.
Fer>irf tnpted by their parents'
vidouMtcu rjr) feeling a\ if there
were no other idutkxi. Ri;k »nd
Lttniemadea suicide pact, and that
light. U*ey carried n out.
The sccac just described may
Kxud familial brcauie it is Imm the
.' widely watched icccnt TV movie,
' SimviRg, Although the drama wu
. a fictional story based on fictional
dnncten. the borror and epidemic
efteewfe suicide today is very real.
Abho^ teenage suicide occurs in
All pans of the wcrld. it b the most
widespread in the United States. -
Suicide U lite wennd leading cauic
of death (accidents aie first)
amocg young adults aged 15 to 24.
The teen suicide rate has tripled
since 1970. Today, a b estimated that
500.000 teem attempt suicide each
year, with 5,000 of them actually succeeding.
Tragically, these knocking
•umbers may actually even be higher
became many suicide cases go totally
unreponed. Fuiihcroorc, the
number of trcn suicides arc predicted
to rise even higher in the years to
COfDC.
The obvious question is; why are
so many teens taking their own live*?
Expcru believe that almost
anything could trigger a widdal urge
• in a teen. Because the "teca" years
are the very difficult years of transition
from child to adult, teens must
accept new responsibilities and oew
challenges. It is during ibe teen years
that a person becoraes truly
vulnerable, aod with same teens finding
the stress tad pretuirei of
"growing up" loo much in handle,
they ultimately chootc to end the
pressure* by taking iheir lives. Today's
society it placing mote and
more pressure on its adolescents to
compete, to achieve, to succeed, to
be better than the next person...the
list goes on.
Denny Hotiey, a 13-year-old, hung
hinuclf last summer after repeatedly
telling his mutter, "If there were
one less mouth to feed, maybe 'kings
would be better."
Danny's father was a military man
on suipvncnt ovenev, wnuc hu
funUy stayed in Cslifoinia. T1)ey
were Mrug|ting to make eads meet,
ml Dareiy. being me ekfca child. feU
However, the blame canr from per*
son to person.
Betty, a high tdool ttulent in Redwood
City, believes people think of
suicide as "a way out."
"When you're derpcrate. there
doesn't icem to be any other soruuon.
Sometime* I'll hear it on the news
that tome kid has killed himself, and
I say to myself. *what if I did it?'
Sometimes you really start to wonder
why you exist when life is so
miserable. 1 mink people who kill
ihcnuclvcs btlicvc that suicide ends
the pain ol living." *
Like Deny, many teens do contemplate
Tilcide after a friend or
anotiicr teen in their community has
killed himself. This diitutbing
dominn eftect of suicide does occur.
Several years ago, after a boy had
Uwc and killed himself, su ether
Today's society is placing more
and more pressure on its adolescents
to compete, to achieve, to succeed,
to be better than the next person ...
responsible for his family's welfare
Besides the tremendous pressures
of "being responsible." many c*Ser
factors do account for the high teen
suicide rate:
Some bUme the working parent*
(especially the mother), for not having
time to spend with their children
anymore. The family unit, the image
of the traditional "family* , Is not
whit U used to be. Family violc*wc
has alio increased over the yean, SA
well as the divorce me.
Since 1 $61
299 Bayshore Blvd.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 826-4880
teenagers in his town look theii own
lives within a two HCCL periai.
What kind of teen commits suicide?
Tern uiicMe encomruues all social
and econrmic barrien. A teen w-ho
S from a wealthy family is jtut as
tiny M cemmh tuicvk a* a teci who
ii rock-broom pocr. The suident
body president or foothill team capuimijtul
as littiy to commit mickte
as the (Uss "weinlo" uf outcast.
Howe-.er. as described by Dr.
Pamela Cantor ir. the February IB,
Vtr Ixmtlt. San* S, 19V. tap »
JWURE
"Ninety percent r* -nerr^Cen are
female. Roearch Indicate) that this
type is usually a firstborn child,
unusually dote to her mother and
able to give help, but unabie to accept
it hertctf. He* father k often absent
ph)itca!ly anc/or psychologically,
and if the parents are divwted.
she blames herself ft-r the split and
vfcwi herself as bring abandoned.
"Three out of four adofescentk who
commit uiicidc me boys. Such a bo>
is o^en a ytmingcr child who tends to
kuT things iiuk*e. He has Isimed
that he has to scUe bis proldctm on
his own *ai u unabTc to jeejt nclp.
A toer, he may be from aa> social
class — a poor or an iffbent home
where he feels hljh presrore to
achieve. In cib'ier case, he tries to
please hit parcnti, but feels he is not
rccognuid and appreciated for who
an! what he is."
When a teen expresses suicidal
thoughts, such as, "I wish I were
dead." or ihrcatcns suicide, none of
these actions should be ignored.
Other suicidal warning signs such
as abnormal behavior (constant
depression, etc.) and withdrawal
from normal habits ard activities
should ako not be ignored.
Suicide prevention center; and
suicide hotlines can be fin^d
throughout the country. However, if
a teen refutes to seek counseling for
his problem;, friends or relatives
ihould not be aftiid to get help. A
uiKidal teen feels at if theic is no
solution to hi* problems.
Suicide ii a tear) pbenotneaaa.
Before a leca decides to commit
suicide, he tbculd envision the facet
aid think of the fulirp of Aose he
would leave behind — his family and
friends, adrice that rs given by
tcvcral suicide prevention
counselor*.