by Brooke Mamalias

Created on: April 17, 2008

Teenage Suicide: Are We Doing Enough?

Adolescent suicide is an increasing problem in today's society. Unfortunately, parents and individuals are unaware of the high risk of suicide that accompanies teenage life. There are many factors and warning signs that one can observe if there is a problem with a suicidal child. Unfortunately, school and community programs are not efficient in combating this problem amongst teens. Prevention of adolescent suicide depends on the family involved in the child's life as well as those people close to the child. Although, there are many programs that are designed to prevent suicide, these programs are ineffective.

In these times of chaos, war and tragedy, it is not surprising that the rate of adolescent suicide has increased. Children are going to extreme lengths to end their lives and parents are unaware of this increasing risk. Several warning signs are revealed when a child is contemplating suicide. In order to save a child's life, it is extremely important that individuals, who are in close proximity, are aware of the signs that are exposed before a suicide takes place. There are many programs that are available to assist individuals in preventing suicide. However, due to the increasing numbers of adolescent suicide, parents and individuals are not doing enough to combat this problem. People need to be aware of the prevalence of adolescent suicide in order for problems to be handled without tragic consequences.

John McIntosh, for the American Association of Suicidology, compiled the following information in 2004: adolescent suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death of people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four years of age. The total amount of suicides completed was 32, 439. Of that total, 23,081 were white males and 6,170 were white females. The total number of black males that committed suicide totaled 1,655. Black females totaled 364. There is definitely a pattern in which males are completing suicide at a much higher rate than females. "A slight increase from 2003 was seen in 2004, but [the] pattern has primarily been stable or slight declines in [the] recent years" (McIntosh, 2004). Also, on average, it has been found that 1 person every 16 minutes killed themselves and 1 young person every 2 hours and 2.1 minutes killed themselves. If we calculate people below the ages of 15, that average increases to one young person every hour and fifty-four minutes (McIntosh, 2004). "While current statistics provide a general

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