Suicide --- Acceptance versus Indulgence
A high school student was crying a lot, lost in her world of pains. She talked about how her parents said or did something to cause her to commit suicide. The school had an event to allow high school students to talk about their pains. It was hours of not only acknowledging almost everything that cause teenagers pain --- LGBTQQ and gender fluxed identity crisis, parental and school pressures, unfriendly and bully school mates, disrespect, insecurities, on and on, for 7 hours, but also telling them we love them, in spite of all these. We love them even though they commited suicide.
Are we sure we want limelight on this, that we are not propagating what is already happening in all our media ? We now live in the era of digitalized and immediate perception. Could we be reinforcing our teenagers' misguided tendencies ? It must feel relief and maybe even good to offload and publicized these and be accepted, not be judged, even told that they are loved. Would that be self indulgent ?
I have never seen so many, almost all teenagers in a school event publicly admit that they have commited suicide. It is concerning.
My own daughter was at that school event. The school asked for parent volunteers. I wanted to help the school out, but did not really know what this school event is all about. I am not sure I want my daughter to see how suicide is now a public acceptable concept and is receiving "popular" views.
One more thing to add to our list of "keeping up with the Joneses" or maybe worst, one more thing to add that our teenagers tell parents that they do not understand.
Really? How could parents not understand the tenuousness of life ? Life the single most precious thing in the entire multi-verse, that now, most teenagers just want to throw away.
I was put in a spot and asked to share a vulnerable real incident in my life. I did. I told the teenagers I am now 60 years old and 30 years ago. I made a mistake. A big one. One that I cannot fixed at all that made me so angry at myself for some time. But it cannot be undone, so in order to move on and be an effective positive change, I needed to forgive myself. I told them time only goes one way. It waits for no one. That they needed to seize every moment of time and make the most of what they want out of time, out of their one and only life. I hope this gets as real as it can be. How I wish I can go back in time and fix that big mistake? How I wish I can be a teenager like them and have all the power of time to be that powerful change.
Are we sure we want limelight on this, that we are not propagating what is already happening in all our media ? We now live in the era of digitalized and immediate perception. Could we be reinforcing our teenagers' misguided tendencies ? It must feel relief and maybe even good to offload and publicized these and be accepted, not be judged, even told that they are loved. Would that be self indulgent ?
I have never seen so many, almost all teenagers in a school event publicly admit that they have commited suicide. It is concerning.
My own daughter was at that school event. The school asked for parent volunteers. I wanted to help the school out, but did not really know what this school event is all about. I am not sure I want my daughter to see how suicide is now a public acceptable concept and is receiving "popular" views.
One more thing to add to our list of "keeping up with the Joneses" or maybe worst, one more thing to add that our teenagers tell parents that they do not understand.
Really? How could parents not understand the tenuousness of life ? Life the single most precious thing in the entire multi-verse, that now, most teenagers just want to throw away.
I was put in a spot and asked to share a vulnerable real incident in my life. I did. I told the teenagers I am now 60 years old and 30 years ago. I made a mistake. A big one. One that I cannot fixed at all that made me so angry at myself for some time. But it cannot be undone, so in order to move on and be an effective positive change, I needed to forgive myself. I told them time only goes one way. It waits for no one. That they needed to seize every moment of time and make the most of what they want out of time, out of their one and only life. I hope this gets as real as it can be. How I wish I can go back in time and fix that big mistake? How I wish I can be a teenager like them and have all the power of time to be that powerful change.
When I worked in suicide prevention in the 1980s I told the kids that no matter how bad it may seem, things will get better. But from their perspective they don’t see the outside. They only see what’s going on in their dark world and do not see a way out, but there always is
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