Teenage Suicide
The killing of own life intentionally is referred as suicide. Over the past
years, American society has been concerned about this issue, especially
teenage suicide. The suicide rate among teenagers is not constant for a period
of time; it keeps changing over time. Most of the time, the suicide rate among
boys is greater than that among girls.
Different types of people in our society respond to this issue in different
ways. Earlier in this year, some 932 parents of adolescents completed a
questionnaire of 30 common psychological medical concerns of adolescence,
among which suicide was one item. They were asked how important it is for
pediatricians to discuss these with their kids during checkups. The result
showed that more than 66% of the parents being questioned said 29 of the 30
items were important to be discussed with their teenage children. This survey
showed that American parents are somehow concerned about suicide among
teenagers. This concern is pervasive among American teenagers. In 1993, a
national survey of adolescents about their knowledge of, and attitudes toward,
youth suicide was made. The survey reulted that 60% of the teenagers reported
knowing another teen who had attempted suicide while 6% reported having
make an attempt themselves.
The above two examples indicates that it is very important for parents,
counselors, or different institutions to become aware of the reasons and
symptons of teenage suicide and to find out possible preventive procedures.
Recently, an examination of suicide rates among Black and White adolescents
from 1986 to 1991 was made. It showed that suicide rate among girls of all
ethnicities remained stable. Also, the rate for White boys were pretty much
stabilized; however, the rate for Black and other minority boys increased
significantly. Those increases were more rapid in areas where suicide rates...