Having grown up during the development of the internet and all it has brought us, I’ve experienced the gamut of online experiences. From the screeches and binging of logging onto the internet, connections so slow that I would go to a website expecting to make some tea or a sandwich before the site loaded, to our current world of endless information at the click of a button. It’s truly amazing how much things have changed in the last 20 years.
Along with these advancements come some major pitfalls. The internet has opened up a whole new medium for a myriad of social interactions, many positive, but at least as many are negative. Bullying has taken on a whole new meaning, having moved from the playground to the internet. Bullies can now torment their victims without the need to taunt them face-to-face. This has opened up a host of opportunities for bullies to psychologically abuse victims.
According to a recent study released by the US Centers for Disease Control, the suicide rate for children between the ages of 10 and 14 has doubled since 2007. This is a disturbing statistic. The fact that children, who have barely lived at all, have found life too unbearable to continue, is saddening. The fact that the suicide rate has doubled in less than a decade is alarming.
I recently learned that my thirteen year old niece was put on suicide watch. Thirteen. I couldn’t believe it. I wondered what could drive this lively, young, quirky, cool girl to contemplate taking her life. After speaking with my sister, it was a combination of factors. Mean girls, depression, coming out, bullies, etc. My niece had come out of the closet and had experienced some backlash from friends. On top of that, she was/is depressed and was being bullied online and at school. It’s scary to think that all of this drover her to want to kill herself, which begs the question: How can we prevent this?
An number of studies have been conducted regarding online bullying and the effects it has on children. In addition, there have been many cases in the news of kids being harassed and bullied to the point of suicide. Ultimately, the solution, or prevention, rests on the shoulders of parents and teachers. Being aware of what’s going on in your child’s life, picking up on key phrases or feelings “I wish I could go to sleep forever” or “I wish I were dead” would be queues for parents and teachers to start opening communication and begin prevention efforts.
The true cause remains foggy. It’s relative to the individual and their personal experiences. Because of this, it makes adolescent suicide very hard to study, but not impossible. Ultimately, more effort needs to be put into studying the problem so we can come up with a solution. Until then, prevention is key. Awareness and action on the part of parents and teachers is essential when it comes to targeting at-risk kids and intervening before tragedy strikes.
Middlebrook, H. (2016, November 03). Suicide deaths on the rise in kids. Retrieved November 06, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/03/health/kids-suicide-deaths-increase/index.html.