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Show Causes of teen suicides By BETTY CONDIE President Utah Education Association What causes student suicide, and how can we prevent it in our own families and communities? Some experts say that academic and social pressures increase the probability of teen suicides. A 1981 study showed that 30 percent of events precipitating teen suicide attempts are school-related, including includ-ing poor grades, truancy and disciplinary disci-plinary problems. Students list pressure to succeed in school and drug abuse as major factors in their ability to cope with their lives. Perfectionists and those who suffer suf-fer from depression, low self-esteem, self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness hopeless-ness seem especially vulnerable to suicide. This state of mind often is caused by a teenager's inability to cope with a personal loss or failure. The loss could be the death of a friend or family member (especially a suicide), parents' divorce, rejection rejec-tion by a girlfriend or boyfriend, loss of a job or failure to get one, academic failure, or failure to be accepted in a particular social circle. Whoever is different or in the minority is at risk, according to some experts. This could help explain ex-plain why the valedictorian of a high school shot himself shortly after af-ter receiving an academic scholarship scholar-ship to college. Being different, even in a positive sense, can create stress or pressure for a teenager. Meeting high expectations of parents pa-rents and teachers can be as difficult diffi-cult for some students as facing their disapproval when they fail. Teenagers today have fewer demands, de-mands, but more pressures on them then previous generations. Students whose parents teach them to solve their own problems during childhood usually are able to handle the pressures of adolescence. adolesc-ence. Others often are not. |