Friday, February 17, 2012
In the News: Bullying and Suicide
This is consistently a hot topic and an important discussion to continue, as teens continue to commit suicide in the face of bullying. Is it possible that bullying has actually grown worse over the years? What are the other possible factors--lack of dialogue and underdeveloped coping strategies due to the detachment of the "techno" age? Is it a fad, now that bullying has become a hot button issue? With all that we know about how high risk teens are for depression, and possible ties to becoming bullying victims, is a crackdown on bullying the best solution?
As Dr. Drew points out, the bullies are not well themselves. We need to better recognize those in need of help and it is the shared responsibility of everyone. These teens might still be with us today if a friend recognized there was a serious problem and know how to act on it. I think suicide talk among teens is often said jokingly or hyperbole.
What do you think? How can we help prevent these suicides?
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Hi, I thought this was so sad. I am new at blogging or even reading blogs so if i say something weird/wrong, sorry. I don't know how "we" can stop this. I think the topic needs to be brought up more and parents need to get involved. My brother was bullyed a lot in high school. It took a lot of work from my mother to get it to stop. I joined the football team as a "manger" and that changed his life. Maybe something like that could work?
ReplyDeleteBeth
Exactly, I think we need to strengthen our personal, face-to-face connections with people. Sometimes that one friendly face in the crowd is like a touchstone.
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