Before we begin, I would like you to take a look at this interactive map that I was required to look at for a class: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/top-15-causes-of-death
Suicide is on that list.
According to the map (and other sources I’ve seen before), suicide is one of the highest causes of death in the US. If that’s not discouraging, I don’t know what is.
Why do people commit or even attempt suicide? Well, there can be multiple reasons. Being made fun of, feeling like they don’t belong, not being able to live with trauma, and more. Much more.
Often times, we ignore the signs. We think people talking about suicide are just looking for attention, or just making a show.
It’s time to stop that way of thinking.
It’s time we started lifting each other up, instead of putting others down. What a difference that could make. People can get past feeling suicidal if they feel like they have a purpose in life. Wouldn’t that be great?
I’m not saying it will be easy. It won’t be. It will still be very hard, and some people aren’t easily convinced, especially if they’ve been told that nobody cares about them their entire life. Been there, done that. It’s not easy to get out of that way of thinking.
It may not be easy, but it’s also not impossible. If we start talking positively to one another instead of talking negatively, think about the difference that we can start to make. If we all work together, maybe one day, we can stop suicide once and for all.
Hope for the Hopeless 
My little girl graduated from Boyd High School. That would be in McKinney, TX. As far as know, she never bullied or been bullied. But that does not matter.
The same school has had two suicides. One of them this year. A freshman by the name of Raymond Howell, a freshman, took a gun to his head. The gun was given to him by another student. That student is being held in jail. I do not think he has been bailed out yet..
The school district has stated that they have a no-bullying policy. I wonder. Since there have been many tweets and utube type of flicks out there actually showing the bullying, to say that they have had a policy seems cheap.
Raymond killed himself in a ditch need El Dorado Drive.. The spot is memorialized by many flowers, cards, and so on.
Well anyway…A teenage suicide is a reflection of failure by the system..
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I live just two hours away from McKinney. Hearing this is heart-breaking. My school also said that there was a no-bullying policy, but I honestly wonder about that. I was bullied in school, and one girl that I didn’t know, but many of my friends knew committed suicide because the same people that bullied me, had bullied her to her breaking point.
I agree when you say teenage suicide is a reflection of failure by the system. If a place says it has a no-bullying policy, they need to act on it. Not just ignore it and pretend it’s not there.
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The bottom line is when we lose a teenager, someone needs to be held accountable. Over and over again, it is the same story. That story starts and ends with the teenager not being taken seriously.
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