Quote:
Originally posted by bermuDa
I'm sorry but I don't feel sorry for this dumb kid; I feel sorry for her parents. A part of going to school is learning how to cope with other people, not all of whom are buddy-buddy with you.
Anyone who wasn't home schooled knows how cruel kids can be, and some of us have even considered suicide... but to act on that impulse?? That's a sign of immaturity and selfishness to the highest degree; and please don't remind me how young this kid was... do you think these youngsters would think it's ok to commit suicide if we dismissed them as deplorable acts of selfishness instead of tragedies? not that they aren't tragedies, but if we spoke more harshly of suicides these kids might not consider it such a viable option.
They want to make a statement? They should do it by living, not by dying. If these kids want to end their suffering, they should talk to their parents about going to another school or home-schooling (or grow a tougher skin), not cause the suffering of their families who now have to live their lives without them.
I wonder if these suicides even consider the lives they're affecting with their pathetic decision... and "they'll be sorry!" doesn't count.
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I understand you feel passionate about this, but come on... You say suicide is immature. She's 12 years old; what do you expect from 12 years old? Ancient wisdom? And since when did adults treating certain acts as deplorable stop adolescents from doing them? We all talk about how they need to toughen up and learn to take it. <i><b>Learn</b></i> being the operative word here. Who is supposed to teach them? Can we guarantee that the kids will be taught? And if they're not, do we rub our hands and say, "Oh, well, stupid kid"?
We also all have our own stories of being on the brink of suicide so we all seem to know for a fact that, since <i>I</i> didn't commit suicide, this kid is stupid for doing it. I didn't realize we could paint everyone's situations with the brush of our own experiences.
These kids do contemplate the effect their suicides will have on those left behind. Unfortunately, they already believe that no one gives a shit, which is one of the reasons why they go through with it. If they truly knew that there were those who cared, they probably wouldn't be in that situation in the first place, so that argument doesn't work in preventing suicide.
I don't have the answers; I wish I did. But until we start actually treating kids like they matter, instead of paying them bullshit lip service, this problem won't go away. And I'm sorry, but the mindset that believes a good way to prevent suicide is by telling these kids they're stupid for doing it is like believing you can stop a car by flooring the gas.