When boats are lost in the storms they scan the coastlines watching for lighthouses to guide them to safe waters.The light guides them to safety.The same can be said for The Outreach,we have lighthouses on both sides of the Island to guide troubled teens to a safe haven and hopefully a better life.
In recent years, a series of bullying-related suicides in the US and
across the globe have drawn attention to the connection between bullying
and suicide. Though too many adults still see bullying as "just part of
being a kid," it is a serious problem that leads to many negative
effects for victims, including suicide. Many people may not realize that
there is also a link between being a bully and committing suicide.
The statistics on bullying and suicide are alarming:
- Suicide is
the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about
4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among
young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent
of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent
have attempted it.
- Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider
suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University
- A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying
- 10 to 14 year old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to the study above
- According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent
of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids
stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying
Bully-related suicide can be connected to any type of bullying, including physical bullying, emotional bullying, cyberbullying, and sexting, or circulating suggestive or nude photos or messages about a person.
Some schools or regions have more serious problems with bullying
and suicide related to bullying. This may be due to an excessive problem
with bullying at the school. It could also be related to the tendency
of students who are exposed to suicide to consider suicide themselves.
Some of the warning signs of suicide can include:
- Showing signs of depression, like ongoing sadness, withdrawal from others, losing interest in favorite activities, or trouble sleeping or eating
- Talking about or showing an interest in death or dying
- Engaging in dangerous or harmful activities, including reckless behavior, substance abuse, or self injury
- Giving away favorite possessions and saying goodbye to people
- Saying or expressing that they can't handle things anymore
- Making comments that things would be better without them
If a person is displaying these symptoms, talk to them about your
concerns and get them help right away, such as from a counselor, doctor,
or at the emergency room.
In some cases, it may not be obvious that a teen is thinking about
suicide, such as when the suicide seems to be triggered by a
particularly bad episode of bullying. In several cases where bullying
victims killed themselves, bullies had told the teen that he or she
should kill him or herself or that the world would be better without
them. Others who hear these types of statements should be quick to stop
them and explain to the victim that the bully is wrong.
Other ways to help people who may be considering suicide include:
- Take all talk or threats of suicide seriously. Don't tell the person
they are wrong or that they have a lot to live for. Instead, get them
immediate medical help.
- Keep weapons and medications away from anyone who is at risk for suicide. Get these items out of the house or at least securely locked up.
- Parents should encourage their teens to talk about bullying
that takes place. It may be embarrassing for kids to admit they are the
victims of bullying, and most kids don't want to admit they have been
involved in bullying. Tell victims that it's not their fault that they
are being bullied and show them love and support. Get them professional
help if the bullying is serious.
- It is a good idea for parents to insist on being included in
their children's friends on social networking sites so they can see if
someone has posted mean messages about them online. Text messages may be
more difficult to know about, so parents should try to keep open
communications with their children about bullying.
- Parents who see a serious bullying problem should talk to
school authorities about it, and perhaps arrange a meeting with the
bully's parents. More states are implementing laws against bullying, and
recent lawsuits against schools and criminal charges against bullies
show that there are legal avenues to take to deal with bullies. If
school authorities don't help with an ongoing bullying problem, local
police or attorneys may be able to.
People who are thinking about suicide should talk to someone right
away or go to an emergency room. They can also call a free suicide
hotline, such as 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Friends and relatives of suicide victims also need to find someone to
talk to as they grieve, especially if they are suffering from
depression or suicidal thoughts themselves.
Suicide Draws Attention to Gay Bullying
After reading this article, please watch this video!
Jamey Rodemeyer, a Buffalo junior high school student, got on his webcam and created a video urging other gay teenagers to remain hopeful in the face of bullying.
The 14-year-old spoke of coming out as bisexual and enduring taunts and slurs at school. And he described, in at times desperate tones, rejection and ridicule from other teenagers.
Jamey made the video as part of the It Gets Better project, a campaign that was started to give hope to bullied gay teenagers. “All you have to do is hold your head up and you’ll go far,” he said. “Just love yourself and you’re set. … It gets better.”
But for Jamey, the struggle apparently was just too much. His parents announced that their son was found dead, an apparent suicide. He didn’t leave a note, but his parents said he had endured “constant taunting, from the same people over and over.” They added that his school had intervened to help, and that Jamey appeared to be benefiting from counseling.
News that a bullied teenager had succumbed to the very pressures he urged others to resist came as a shock to supporters of the It Gets Better project. And it provided a sobering reminder that bullied teenagers who appear to be adjusting may still be in trouble.
Dan Savage, the advice columnist and co-founder of It Gets Better, noted on his blog that Jamey’s death showed that “sometimes, the damage done by hate and by haters is simply too great.”
It sounds like Jamey had help — he was seeing a therapist and a social worker and his family was supportive — but it wasn’t enough. Whatever help Jamey was getting clearly wasn’t enough to counteract the hatred and abuse that he had endured since the fifth grade, according to reports, or Jamey’s fears of having to face down a whole new set of bullies when he started high school next year.
As suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers have gotten more attention in the past year, researchers have sought to identify the factors that play the largest role. One study published in the journal Pediatrics in May, which looked at nearly 32,000 teenagers in 34 counties across Oregon, found that gay and bisexual teenagers were significantly more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. The risk of an attempt was 20 percent greater among gay teenagers who lacked supportive social surroundings, like schools with gay-straight alliance groups or school policies that specifically protected gay, lesbian and bisexual students.
An editorial accompanying the study said the findings pointed to the need for schools to adopt policies that create “more supportive and inclusive surroundings.”
“By encouraging more positive environments,” the report stated, “such policies could help reduce the risk of suicide attempts not only among LGB students, but also among heterosexual students.”
