Yep, the title is very sensational, and even a tad bit controversial…but it is so very true. My youngest wrote about her struggles with alcohol on FaceBook a few weeks ago. Here is the link. Go read it if you haven’t already….
Emily Fisher’s Alcohol Manifesto.
And now, just the other day, one of Emily’s classmates at the University of Pennsylvania committed suicide. Emily wrote about that here…
Divergence from my Normal Subject Matter, but Extremely Important
Both girls come from loving, supportive families. Both girls are/were extremely intelligent, outgoing, active young women. So why are they doing harm to themselves? Look at the figures in the table below. They were updated April of 2013.
| Youth Suicide Statistics | Data |
| Annual number of youth suicides each year (ages 10-24) | 4,600 |
| Percent of youth suicides that include a firearm | 45 % |
| Percent of youth suicides that include suffocation | 40 % |
| Percent of youth suicides that include poisoning | 8 % |
| Percent of students grades 9-12 who reported seriously considering suicide | 16 % |
| Percent who reported creating a plan | 13 % |
| Annual number of youth (age 10-24) who receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries | 157,000 |
| Percent of suicide deaths that are males | 81 % |
4600 of our young people killing themselves on average each year. What. The. Hell.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death, with half of those involving alcohol.
The point being this. Our children are in danger. We think we have done a great job getting them ready for the world, but the numbers show a different story. These intelligent, sophisticated young men and women we have sent out into the world do not always know how to deal with the stressors that are out here. We haven’t done as good of a job as we thought.
Not every one of our kids is going to become an alcoholic. Nor will they commit, or attempt to commit suicide. That goes without saying…..but that doesn’t minimize the fact that all of our kids need our guidance, and attention, and concern much longer than the day when they move out of our houses. Whether they think they do or not.
6 comments
Comment by Shelley Jane Hubbard on January 24, 2014 at 5:55 pm
This one of my many topics not really a favorite one but definitely a necessary one, when speaking with adults.. We do a really poor job in this country of teaching our children how to cope with…death… sadness …anger …stress…loss…pain, both kinds…failure…being less than perfect.
Alcoholism and suicide are only two of the many ways youth remove or numb themselves…video games….pills…weed….sex…choking games….food…anorexia…Bulimia….. from the number of kids I deal with on a weekly basis it is an epidemic.
And we did this….a nation of instant gratification…with a pill to fix every pain and our youth are watching….if we want our youth to make better choices and handle troubles in a healthy manner…then we must do the same…what are we using to cope?
Comment by wormdude@gmail.com on January 24, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Shelley, thank you very much for commenting. It is always gratifying to have a professional from the mental health field weighing in. And I agree totally. Our children learn from watching what we do. We taught them everything we don’t know.
Comment by Anonymous on January 24, 2014 at 6:46 pm
Removing God from the classroom, prohibiting teachers from disciplining students, teaching multiculturalism, emphasising self-esteem rather than self-discipline and self-reliance, and a plethora of other PC bull kaka factors all contribute. We are sending our children out into the world ill-equipped to deal with the real world. The world is wondrous, but it is not fair nor kind.
Comment by wormdude@gmail.com on January 24, 2014 at 6:55 pm
Thank you for your comment, but I think that you miss the point. The blame for all of this rests directly on the parents shoulders. Not God, not the government, not the school system…no one but us the parents.
Comment by Mike Cade on January 25, 2014 at 11:23 pm
Yep… A lot of parents don’t really parent anymore. I have coached youth and high school sports for 25 plus years. I see some kids get dropped off and no parent cares enough to ever sees a game or make a team meeting/banquet. And then some over protect their kids and take away the need/desire for their kids to understand effort, skills, and hard work are needed to excel in this world… and would rather perscribe to the “every one is entitled” mentality. No one wins or loses… just give them all a participation medal. This thinking does not drive them to a destructive mentallity, but it also does not prepare them for real life. Just one way that might make it hard to deal in a world that rewards those who work and commit.
I had great parents and yet I made many poor choices at times. But I never lost hope or felt so lost that a destructive mentality took hold of me. Life is tough, prepare your kids for it the best you can.
Yes it is mostly up to us parents, but their is a thinking that all are entitled that is seen in all areas from
government to acedamia at
times.
Comment by wormdude@gmail.com on January 26, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Mike, you and I came from the same area and time. we were raised to not expect anything other than what we work for. Our parents held us accountable for the bad decisions we made. It didn’t kill us, I think that it actually made us better. Thank you for your input.