Youth suicides can be prevented

The loss of a child’s or young person’s life is hard to understand, much less accept in today’s society, where much effort is spent on keeping our children alive, well and healthy enough to reach their potential as adults.   As any actuarial scientist could precisely estimate, there is a chance that children will get sick and die.  It has happened in my time as a youth minister, and it hurts. I can’t even try to imagine how I would feel if one of my own children died from an illness.  I would do anything to prevent that from happening. Yet there is a preventable serious health problem that affects the lives of many children each year … suicide.

Some families in our church have been dealing with their children’s lives ending with suicide, and it is like losing one of my own. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that for youths between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, with about 4,400 livers lost each year. Guns and firearms are the most popular, followed by suffocation and at 8 percent, poisoning.

Some, like Tyler Clementi, 18, jump of the nearest high bridge, which in his case was the George Washington Bridge.  The promising musician suffered a self-imposed end to his career after the Rutgers University freshman had a homosexual encounter surreptitiously filmed and broadcast over the Internet.  The invasion of privacy was so intense the student s felt distraught enough to commit suicide (which may the subject of another column).

The CDC also reported that another related problem is the medical care for those whose planned suicides failed.  Each year, the organization says that about 149,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries in Emergency Rooms across the country.  The topic of suicide is uncomfortable to most people, and is not an often discussed item.  In today’s society, victims are blamed and families are friends are left with guilt and other negative feelings. The result is the public health problem is a “family secret” not to be mentioned.  As a minister, I deal with these emotions from families affected by suicides, successful or not.

In  a CBS News story about the Clementi incident, Dr. David Skorton, Cornell University president and a physician for 36 years, said the most important way to prevent suicides is to take away the stigma of seeking mental health care for the problems of life. At Cornell, professors, grad students and resident advisors have received suicide prevention training for incoming freshmen who moved onto campus. The CDC reported the last several decades has uncovered more information on the causes of suicide and prevention strategies.  It is also developing programs to prevent youth suicide.

Obvious space limitations control details of research, but the truth is suicide, especially youth suicides, can be prevented.  The topic needs to be discussed openly and truthfully so the most valuable resource my church and the rest of the world has, our children, can be loved and protected under God’s grace and care.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

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