Teen Suicide
Every year thousands of teens die in the United States, not from cancer or car accidents, but by their own hand; they make the choice that they want to die, and they take their own life. Statistics conducted in 1996 reveal that every 42 seconds a teenager attempts suicide and every 16.9 minutes a teenager completes it (World Future Society). Many people think that the latter is not factual, and they try to sweep the matter of teen suicide under the carpet. Yet it is all true. Suicide is the fastest growing killer of youth in America (www.yellowribbon.org), and "if left unaddressed, it will help bring about disastrous consequences for [the United States] in the future (World Future Society)." So let us proceed in dealing with the vast teen suicide problem by first recognizing it as a national dilemma, then by educating our youth about it, and finally by providing greater access to resources dealing with it. Teenage suicide is indeed a great plight in the United States. It is the eighth leading cause of all deaths in the country; third for persons aged 15 to 24 (Waters and Ingrassia). Statistics show that more than 13 of every 100,000 teenager took their life in 1990, and that number's rising every year. It is furth
Why is it that teenagers are committing suicide? There are many factors which lead teenagers today to take their own life. There is the socio environmental factor which suggest that the greater access to firearms has caused a rise in the death of youth. Teenagers can easily kill themselves with such deadly weapons as guns. Two other angles involve science. Studies run by the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network suggest that prenatal hazard increases the risks for teen suicide. Mother's of the potential suicides received less prenatal care and were more likely to smoke cigarettes and take alcohol during pregnancy. "Excess of suicide could, therefore, be due to CNS consequences of birth complications, exposure to some teratogen during pregnancy, and the heritability of psychopathology (www.spanusa.org)." Neurochemical abnormalities may also cause teen suicide. "Findings in [. . .] adolescent suicide and suicide attempts include abnormally low levels of serotonin metabolite 5HIAA; reduction in presynaptic 5HT receptor density; increase in post synaptic 5HT receptor density (www.spanusa.org)." Suicide is a genetically influenced. It may be the result of an underlying personality or predisposition to mental illness that is inherited. One other cause is the imitative thinking of our youth (Garner and Rosenberg). After a film or news story on suicide is shown, suicide rates tend to go up. There are counts of specific suicides that were committed shortly after seeing or reading about suicide. The latter factors are, however, minor. World Future Society. "Tougher Times for Teenagers." Futurist. Jul/Aug96, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p51, 2p. Gardner, Sandra and Gary B. Rosenberg. Teenage Suicide. New Jersey: Julian Messner, 1990. Teen suicide is a grave national problem indeed. It has taken the lives of many American youth already. The future of America's n
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Approximate Word count = 1278
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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