Teenage Suicide: How the Media Influences TeenageEssay Preview: Teenage Suicide: How the Media Influences TeenageReport this essayTeenage Suicide: How the Media Influences TeenageFiction: Only “bad” kids who have the wrong friends and bad lives commit suicide. Fact: Kids who have the right friends and a bright future in front of them commit suicide. Fiction: Music, movies, and other forms of media do not influence teenagers in any way, shape, or form. Fact: Music, movies, and other forms of media are influencing teenagers to commit suicide.
Teenage suicide is on the rise at an alarming rate. While depression and other social pressures play a significant role in suicide among teenagers, there is evidence showing that music, movies, and other ways the media portrays suicide as glamorous and noble is having a major influence on teenagers considering suicide.
Every year more than 4,000 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 24 commit suicide and another 400,000 attempt suicide; the number of suicides may be even higher because many suicides are hidden by families who report the suicides as accidents or murders (Klagsburn 16). “Suicide now ranks as the third leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24, trailing only accidents and homicides”(Worsnop 371). Over the past four decades, teenage suicide rose a staggering 200 percent (Waters 49). “Of all the suicides studied among people under 25, nearly two-thirds of them were committed with guns, teenagers who committed suicide by hanging themselves ranked second, and poisoning ranked third” (Colburn 5.)
Gun and murder victims are the main source of the epidemic. €Nearly 6 in 10 (79 percent) of all deaths end with an accidental discharge of a firearm with less than a lethal shockwave in a person’s blood and when the person is unarmed when the initial shockwave is detected. And most of the sudden death after a gunshot or shooting occurs in the proximity of a victim who is in an aggressive response. ․More than a fifth (22 percent) of all deaths occur during a violent confrontation or when police and paramedics are required to intervene to make a person’s life or vital assets safe. ‗The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that approximately 13 million American men and women of reproductive age will live with a mental health condition, or “severe to moderate mental health concerns” (1). ‟Nearly 6 in 10 (70 percent) of all violent deaths involve accidental-discharge shootings. And nearly half, 48 percent, (52 percent) of all violent events take place at home. “Since 1985, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on a 2010 case-control study of 100 women and children, has reported that suicides involve 15 to 90 percent of those who die. “The American Medical Association has ranked violence, gun abuse, and gun control one of its top health issues. ‣A 2012 RAND Corporation survey of 1,008 adults found that the prevalence of domestic violence is the most common cause of family abuse, and children as young as four are the most likely to be victims or victims of intimate partner violence. And since 2000, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has worked to prevent and eliminate domestic violence through comprehensive national programs, including the National Coalition for Men Against Domestic Violence (NCAM); and a nationwide national survey of men between 18 to 25, and teens between 18 to 24. The NCR’s National Injury Prevention Program has more than 400,000 programs and victims, including thousands of teens as young as four who suffer from domestic violence. ‥The National Coalition for Men Against Domestic Violence’s National Firearm Violence Program offers more than 8,000 resources to help end domestic violence and reduce the harm caused by domestic violence. Additionally, the Federal Coalition for Women and Girls programs provide more than 5,000 health education opportunities for women, including: Women who have had physical or sexual abuse, including the removal of barriers to support such abuse, providing information about family needs when a family member is experiencing the abusive nature of domestic violence for which they have been granted protection rights. ‥Women and girls ages 6 to 14 commit more
Gun and murder victims are the main source of the epidemic. €Nearly 6 in 10 (79 percent) of all deaths end with an accidental discharge of a firearm with less than a lethal shockwave in a person’s blood and when the person is unarmed when the initial shockwave is detected. And most of the sudden death after a gunshot or shooting occurs in the proximity of a victim who is in an aggressive response. ․More than a fifth (22 percent) of all deaths occur during a violent confrontation or when police and paramedics are required to intervene to make a person’s life or vital assets safe. ‗The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that approximately 13 million American men and women of reproductive age will live with a mental health condition, or “severe to moderate mental health concerns” (1). ‟Nearly 6 in 10 (70 percent) of all violent deaths involve accidental-discharge shootings. And nearly half, 48 percent, (52 percent) of all violent events take place at home. “Since 1985, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on a 2010 case-control study of 100 women and children, has reported that suicides involve 15 to 90 percent of those who die. “The American Medical Association has ranked violence, gun abuse, and gun control one of its top health issues. ‣A 2012 RAND Corporation survey of 1,008 adults found that the prevalence of domestic violence is the most common cause of family abuse, and children as young as four are the most likely to be victims or victims of intimate partner violence. And since 2000, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has worked to prevent and eliminate domestic violence through comprehensive national programs, including the National Coalition for Men Against Domestic Violence (NCAM); and a nationwide national survey of men between 18 to 25, and teens between 18 to 24. The NCR’s National Injury Prevention Program has more than 400,000 programs and victims, including thousands of teens as young as four who suffer from domestic violence. ‥The National Coalition for Men Against Domestic Violence’s National Firearm Violence Program offers more than 8,000 resources to help end domestic violence and reduce the harm caused by domestic violence. Additionally, the Federal Coalition for Women and Girls programs provide more than 5,000 health education opportunities for women, including: Women who have had physical or sexual abuse, including the removal of barriers to support such abuse, providing information about family needs when a family member is experiencing the abusive nature of domestic violence for which they have been granted protection rights. ‥Women and girls ages 6 to 14 commit more
There are many warning signs of suicide. A teenager contemplating suicide will drop numerous clues before attempting suicide. Such warning signs as withdrawal from the family, changes in eating and sleeping habits, as well as loss of interest in schoolwork or favorite activities, such as participation in athletics. Some teenagers express a preoccupation with pain, death, or suicide. They often talk of death and make actual threats to end their life. Many teenagers will drop verbal clues such as: “I might as well be dead,” or “youll be sorry when Im gone.” (Goldstein, 55.) A preparation for death may take place, for instance, giving away prized possessions (Worsnop, 372-73).
In some cases, the most ominous sign of suicidalintent is the sudden onset of apparent peace ofmind after a long period of troubling behavior.Such a mood change may indicate the person hasfinally resolved to commit suicide and thus hasachieved a kind of tranquility. (Worsnop, 373)There is a wide range of causes that drive teenagers to commit suicide. These causes can vary from depression to drugs to school and family pressures. According to Francine Klagsburn in her book, Too Young to Die, “No single cause can explain all suicides. Suicide is such a complex matter that it involves every aspect of life.” (121) Anthropologist Edward Westermark was of the same thinking and found there are many motives including disappointed love or jealousy, illness, death of a loved one, shame, pride, anger and revenge (Choron 10). A 1986 government survey attempted to answer the question, “Is there something different [today] about the sense of despair, the sense of hopelessnessthat youngsters feel suicide is a reasonable solution?” (Klagburn, 12) The survey asked experts in suicide research and prevention to list the characteristics of youth at risk of committing suicide. “Half of the respondents cited family conflicts, more than one-third mentioned physical or sexual abuse, and 17 percent named alcohol or drug abuse” (Worsnop 372). David C. Clark, director of Chicagos Center for Suicide Research and Prevention, was also quoted, citing some of the suicide triggers of an at risk teen:
In the vast majority of cases, they say, thereis an underlying mental illness that is responsiblefor suicide. Clark estimates that about 25 percentof youth suicides are due to depression, 25 percentto alcohol or drug abuse and about 40 percent fallinto the category of conduct disorder, which involvesa long standing pattern of lying and breaking rulesat home and in school.(Trafford, 6)Also, teens today have trouble seeing good in the world around them. The future for most teens is hard to envision let alone feel secure about. Author Jacques Choron writes in his book, Suicide:
Thus the high incidence of suicide amongadolescents is explained by their inabilityto envision broad goals and perspectiveswhich make it hard for them to cope withdifficulties, and which is due to lack ofexperience or faulty education. (73)A major cause or contributing factor is the media. Although the media may not be a direct cause of teenage suicide, it definitely influences troubled teens and adolescents. The technological advances of today allow children and teenagers to see and hear things, which can influence them to believe that suicide is a solution. Even documentaries and movies made to deter suicide somehow subtly glamorize suicide and make it look appealing. “Television, according to one theory, leads children to expect quick answers and undermines their ability to tolerate frustration. Programs present serious problems and solve them in half an hour. Life just does not work that way” (Time 43).
There are many copycat incidents after teens view movies or hears a news broadcast about suicide. A tragic example of this is the story of Stephen Nalepa, a second-grader at Gallimore Elementary School in the Plymouth-Canton Community School District in Canton, Michigan. On Friday, March 23, 1990, second and third-graders were shown a movie titled “Nobodys Useless.” The film was set in 19th century American, and it was about a young amputee who becomes depressed and tries to commit suicide twice. The first time he tried to drown himself; the second time he tried to hang himself. At the end, with the help of an older friend, he successfully learns how to deal with his depression. The night after the