Reflection 2

When I first stumbled upon the idea of teen suicide I thought it would be a breeze. I quickly found that most sites give you the basics in what you already know about suicide. To answer any of my questions I had to specifically type in key words on discus just to get close to an excellent site. After that I had to go into the pages that seemed high-quality and read them all word for word; but it didn’t stop there then I had to determine if the author was a reliable source—and that is merely the basic search process for all sources. Whenever I needed to find my sources I needed to find things that could help me in more than one way, as in answer more than one question. It was not a tough process it was solitary time consuming and it took a lot of work to add a scene of empathy to each and every post. The source by Jessica portner, Teen suicide: The Silent Epedimic, helped me the most and gave me a exceptional source of all kinds of usefull information that I did not know. Since all of my sources came from discus so for the most part everything was reliable. I think what made my blog easyer was the strong feelings I had for the topic which caused me to put my all into this blog and make it 100%.

Reflection 1

Teen suicide is a sensitive topic that countless of us are not familiar with; and, those things we do know are generally assumptions. I am surprised to discover that various times teens do not fathom that death is final, they often envision how much enhanced things will be after they are gone.  This is an appalling actuality to come to, however, it is one all to true. Bullying is a familiar and daunting cause of suicide; this, which has been known to be a huge problem in the United States, could be associated with a teens thought that “anything was better than the life they are living”. This in itself shows that suicide is more than a feeling, and it is this that has strengthen my connection, interest, and over all need to inform as many teens, parents, and adults alike to the crisis ahead. A common question is ‘why is it that teens do not go to their friends or relatives when they have the initial thoughts of suicide’?  The book Th1rteen R3asons Why brings a realistic and emotional feel to the whole situation of suicide, in the world and through the eyes of a suicidal teen, Hannah Baker.  We can hear her emotions, and, because we could only imagine the hurt a suicidal teen feels, we sense a great deal of pity for her. It is an eye opener and leads me to my other finding that, subjects as simple as the way someone was born can be targeted and picked at until, like a scab, it bleeds out. We must educate ourselves to find that suicide is not a joke and we should never em-place comedy to hide our ignorance.

The Media

   

     The media is often to blame for many youth misconceptions and issues with their reflection. We often believe we must look a specific way, act in a certain manner, and think like the “typical teen”. Well these and other images to maintain a look can become overwhelming and, cause a teenager major stress.  "Society is more expecting of girls to be better than boys to compete for jobs, schools, and honors, especially with the media, the 'homecoming queen' image, and constant pressures to get into the top universities," This is a common worry of many adolescence. (Burrell) “All teens feel sad or depressed sometimes--especially when the pressures of exams, relationships, and friends become too much to handle.” This is an oblivious statement that many of us can agree upon; but what others seldom understand how things can go from bad to worse in a blink of an eye, these sudden changes can cause pressure on a teen. So when did it even become okay to ridicule such a grim occurrence. (Arbetter) "You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything." This is true for the media as well. In “Th1rteen R3asons Why” Hannah shows how the media and everything around you affects not just one part of your life, but your whole life. She was so consumed in the way everyone saw—or didn’t see—her. She let herself fall into the crowd with people she never really liked just for the attention. Hannah wasn’t swayed by one thing; she was convinced 13 different times. (Th1rteen R3asons Why) Can you see anything funny about that, so why do the media have such cruel perception of those facing the decisions of their life?

Facts and Stats

Teens today do not take the time to really look at things for what they really are; we simply accept them to be what they will. Throughout the book, Hannah tells us the thirteen people who have influenced her life.  Her grounds were due to events such as rape, depression, a scene of invisibility, being picked on, and not having a stable relationship with anyone. Moreover, the most shocking detail was that Hannah was never certain what or why she was having these thoughts, or if she should go through with it. These types of thoughts can be piloted from a teen that longs for attention—the attention she may be lacking. She tried calling out to others for help, but was restrained by herself. No one saw the horror of what laid behind her eyes. Hannah may have been fabricated, but, she is the epitome of suicidal teens everywhere. (Th1rteen R3asons Why) To establish the circumstances that lead teen to suicide, I found that 16% of teen commit suicide due to parent or family problems, relationships accounted for 10% of suicides, 5% was shared between both runaways and abused teens, 3% was school related issues, pregnancy’s and matters on sexuality made up 8%, taking a whopping 30% depression stood as the event leading to most suicides, a less major 3% due to substance abuse, while all other proceedings take up 27%. (Lawrence) these statistics show that a good number of teens do not commit suicide for insignificant reasons such as, breakups or bad grade (this is not to say that it does not happen). To justify the data, a mass of these cases are associated with things outside the teens control such as family problems, bullies, sexuality and much more. The intellect of a suicidal teen is a maze of despair filled only by the dark mist of loneliness. In asking who is more likely to commit suicide, the white male ratio still surpasses that of any other group. Girls are three times likely to attempt suicide; as an effort to convey their scenes of loneliness. While boys take issues into their own hands and, go through with suicide. As for assumptions such as: suicidal teens sit beneath the stair case, wear long black trench coats, and listen to heavy metal music; this is not the case. Signs of suicide are rarely this blunt and extreme.  (Jessica Portner).  We must look beyond what we see to find the truth behind suicide—a seven letter synonym for plague.

An unstable household can lead to a suicidal child; children need stability.
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Suicide can be a result from bullying 
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Epidemic of the Ages

Teenage suicide is a prevalent and catastrophic incident throughout the world. It is a completely preventable occurrence that should be educated to perpetuate our teens. To most—as long as suicide does not occur in a public place with witnesses they can quarrel it was an accident. This, as Jay Asher states in his book Th1rteen R3asons Why, is because no parent wishes for everyone to believe— or to believe themselves— that they raised a child who took their own life. We are often oblivious as to what the people around us everyday are going through. It is becoming harder and harder to tell a suicidal teen from one acting out of rage, rebellion, or going through a “phase”. “At the end of class Mrs. Bradley passed out a flyer called The Warning Signs of a Suicidal Individual. Guess what was right up there in the top five? “A sudden change in appearance.” I tugged at the ends of my newly chopped hair. Huh. Who knew I was so predictable?” (Th1rteen R3asons Why) This statement shows how “time and time again” we do not notice the signs right in front of us. "Where it used to be your grandfather, now it's your son," said Tom Simon (Jessica Portner). The numbers and the rates for suicide are increasing dramatically. This shows that there is amplification in the figures and, if we do not stop this plague as soon as possible it can lead to a defunct future.  Depression is beyond felling sad; it is an everyday feeling that consumes you in loneliness. It hurts you physically and mentally; and, it feels like your being swallowed by a dark cloud only you cannot scream out to anyone because all your energy, life, your emotions have been drained like vapors in a cloud. Sooner or later you just do not care anymore, you try to reach out for help but, your just so tired—and not physically tired—just tired of everything. This feeling of being dilapidated is the one that pilots most sufferers to suicide. You soon become weary of eating, shattered of talking, drained of smiling, and soon done with living. Depression is something the majority of us cannot comprehend, unless we feel it for first-hand. (Sandra Arbetter).