The Sociological Factors Of Teenage Suicide

Teenage Suicide A problem that people will always have to face is depression. Everyone goes through a phase of depression in their life, but it is how the person handles it that takes them to the next level toward happiness, or deeper into their depressed state. Once deeper into that state, suicide seems to come to mind. What causes them to want to end their lives, specifically teenagers? What sociological factors influence them to come to that conclusion? Teenagers commit suicide because of influences of society, the environment that surrounds them, and the stresses of the world today. In an article by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, it is the eighth leading cause of all deaths in the country; third for persons aged 15 to 24. Statistics show that more than 13 of every 1000,000 teenager took their life in 1998, and that number is rising every year. In fact, suicide kills teens 3 to 6 times more than homicide. Although suicide rates over the past 40 years are relatively stable, the incidence of suicide among 15-24 years olds has tripled, while the rate among 15-19 year olds has quadrupled. The
numbers of deaths by teen suicide are rising quickly, and it must be stopped. The first thought of an influence was the media. Everyday people are exposed to television, magazines, and the internet. On television, teens are watching "reality" shows that deal with physical appearance, weight, and "dressing for your body type." In recent studies from the National Center for Health Statistics, sixteen percent of teenagers are overweight.

Muller 2 So, watching super thin models and celebrities does not help that statistic. Some teenagers start binging and purging, while some seem to eat their depressed emotions. In magazines, models are airbrushed to look a certain way. So, teenagers pick up the magazines and worship and envy these perfect models. The outcome is usually the same as television: eating disorders. As stated previously, teens are pressured to look like the "ideal" male or female. Unfortunately, teenager years are a time of vulnerability because of the loss of self-esteem. Therefore, pressure at this time to look a certain way only increases the insecurity and stress. An estimated one in four teenagers has problems with some sort of eating disorder. Although it was considered a female disease, an increasing number of males are developing eating disorders for many of the same reasons (Capuzzi & Golden). In the past ten years, the internet has been growing tremendously and just about anything is available online. Many things like pornography, models, and celebrities are available for teenage usage twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. During a teenagers developing phase, they try to see themselves as "beautiful as that model" and as "thin as that celebrity." What the see they believe is reality, when in fact it is mostly computer generated. Another influence in suicide is the environment teenagers grew up or are currently living in. A huge issue is family or the lack of family a teenager grew up in. Divorce rates are at an all time high, and the role of a single parent has high responsibilities. Lowered incomes, high stress, and a lack of time is usually a result in a one parent household.

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A single parent may be so busy attempting to create the same or better life as before that the time with the children will decrease (Capuzzi & Golden). A loss of a parent before the age of twelve has a significant impact upon the child's future suicidal notions.
Whether from death, separation, or divorce, family disruption appears to create a sense of isolation within children. Suicidal teenagers feel as if they have no control over their environment. A loss of a parent removes the role model for many developing teenagers, which is a key factor is behavioral problems (Patros & Shamoo). Most often then not, most teenagers have problems dealing with their parents. Much of the conflicts arise when the teenager is trying to develop identity values of their own. Many parents do not have the time, or energy to be good listeners to their children, so then communication problems increase between the parent and the teenager (Capuzzi & Golden). Another common factor of suicide is stress.
Stress is a major component of depression. Not everyone who is depressed commits suicide, but many who do commit suicide are depressed. A main influence on stress during the teenage years is school. Teachers and others who are in the educational setting have a great insight into teenage behavior. Experience in the schools and with teenagers has led researchers to believe that the causes of stress are in the classroom and in the school in general. Grades, grouping, and peer pressure are the three main ideas that researchers came to conclusion with. Grades are usually assigned based on test results and work assignments. The assumption is that the tests used to measure teaching results are adequately constructed, and that the teacher and students agree on what material is important enough to be used on a
test.

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The fact that teachers use grades to encourage, inspire, and even punish, can make grades extremely stressful to a teenager (Patros & Shamoo). Grouping also comes with a lot of stress. Whether you are accepted into a group or not can lead to a lot of negative thoughts and attitudes. Yet, not all teenagers are able to gain acceptance into a peer group.
They maybe excluded from activities and have little or no friends for encouragement. In certain situations, they may even be ignored by their peers, and in others, they may be openly made fun of and treated with no respect. The ability to negotiate peer group relationships is one indicator of a teenager's social competency, which is also associated with behavior. Also, students who have difficulties establishing a peer group may also have problems in academia (Walters & Bowen). Teenagers must somehow find acceptance by meeting the standards of the group, whatever those standards may be. If they are unable to meet or determine the standards, they may become loners or isolated. Adding to the stress is the desire to join a group whose values are in conflict with those of their parents (Patros & Shamoo).