Adolescents and Suicide
Suicide is defined as the act or an instance of taking one 's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind. As an adult we often think of the adolescent stage as a time to be happy and living a worry free life. For me, when I think of adolescent years I think of first menstrual cycle, first date, prom, and graduation. Suicide never crosses my mind until I began taking psychology classes. I never even thought suicide was a major issue in adolescents, of course you see special cases but the thought of suicide being the third leading cause of death in ten to nineteen years olds was oblivious to me (Santrock). Douglas Fisher wrote an article addressing how schools …show more content…
My son could not understand why he was grounded for not snitch on his brother. Adolescents tend to be so strong minded and loyal to their friends. But do they know how far to take that loyalty? Do they know when to keeping a secret is okay and when it’s not? Fisher discusses an essay project titled When Not to Keep a Secret and how it was developed in response to fears of school violence. “The idea was for students to consider when keeping a secret was harmful. 90% of the papers submitted by students was focused on suicide” (Fisher). “Studies have revealed that family support, peer support and community connectedness were linked to a lower risk of suicidal tendencies” (Santrock). Adolescents are often scared to talk to adults about their problems and they often feel they can solve their problems on their own. Although independency should be encouraged adolescents should still feel secure in approaching an adult they can confide in with their problems. I feel sometimes it is overly “expect for adolescents to grow up but often we forget they need help, guidance, and structure in the process. Adolescents should be able to have the confidence to ask for help for themselves or others if needed. “Suicides in adolescence may occur in clusters, if one adolescent commits suicide other adolescents who find out also commit suicide” (Santrock). If adolescents can be provided with opportunities to seek and receive help suicide within adolescents can be
Suicide is defined as the act or an instance of taking one 's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind. As an adult we often think of the adolescent stage as a time to be happy and living a worry free life. For me, when I think of adolescent years I think of first menstrual cycle, first date, prom, and graduation. Suicide never crosses my mind until I began taking psychology classes. I never even thought suicide was a major issue in adolescents, of course you see special cases but the thought of suicide being the third leading cause of death in ten to nineteen years olds was oblivious to me (Santrock). Douglas Fisher wrote an article addressing how schools …show more content…
My son could not understand why he was grounded for not snitch on his brother. Adolescents tend to be so strong minded and loyal to their friends. But do they know how far to take that loyalty? Do they know when to keeping a secret is okay and when it’s not? Fisher discusses an essay project titled When Not to Keep a Secret and how it was developed in response to fears of school violence. “The idea was for students to consider when keeping a secret was harmful. 90% of the papers submitted by students was focused on suicide” (Fisher). “Studies have revealed that family support, peer support and community connectedness were linked to a lower risk of suicidal tendencies” (Santrock). Adolescents are often scared to talk to adults about their problems and they often feel they can solve their problems on their own. Although independency should be encouraged adolescents should still feel secure in approaching an adult they can confide in with their problems. I feel sometimes it is overly “expect for adolescents to grow up but often we forget they need help, guidance, and structure in the process. Adolescents should be able to have the confidence to ask for help for themselves or others if needed. “Suicides in adolescence may occur in clusters, if one adolescent commits suicide other adolescents who find out also commit suicide” (Santrock). If adolescents can be provided with opportunities to seek and receive help suicide within adolescents can be