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.