Teenage Suicide and the Media Essay Example
Teenage Suicide: How the Media Influences Teenagers
Fiction: 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.) 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
Fiction: 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.) 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