Podcast Script

“Mom, dad... I’m tired of everything… and now, I think it is time to end up. I love you, goodbye.” (Pause) Several months ago, I found an image of letter that was written with blood while I was web surfing. It was from a teen girl, making a farewell to her beloved parents, saying that she doesn’t want to live anymore. Then, there was a big argument whether it was a right decision of her to finish her life this early. Well, I do not know what happened to the girl after she wrote her letter, and yet I wished that she did not commit suicide.

(Short pause)

Hello everyone. My name is HY, and I’m an ordinary sixteen year old girl. Today I’m going to talk about teenage suicide. Many of you probably have heard of teenagers committing suicide on newspaper, magazines, and even on TV programs. Teenage suicide is becoming a big social issue and the rate of suicides has increased rapidly these days. Even though there is a low rate of children committing suicide, it starts to increase amazingly during adolescence. According to CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teenage suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15 to 24 old teenagers and adults. If so, what would be the main causes for these “young adults” to commit suicide? People might just say that too much schoolwork or having a bad family relationship would be the main reasons. Well, they ARE some parts of the causes. However, I want to remind people that there are actually more than those two factors that teenagers finish their lives.

To begin with, I’m going to tell you some of suicide causes. The first one is bad family relationship. Adolescence is the time that teenagers become very sensitive and easy to get stressed or tired. Also, it is time which their parents should encourage their children from any hardships by giving encouraging words or some advice. However, if there is a crack on one’s family relationship, teenagers can easily get bad impacts. Divorce of parents, domestic violence, unemployment of parents or household financial problems may give fatal harms on teenagers both physically and mentally. Teenagers are not like little children who don’t know or don’t care about those problems. Most of teens are already mentally matured enough, and of course, they definitely would get pressured and depressed from bad house circumstances. They are afraid that something unexpected would happen to their family, like parents divorcing. Fear and anger toward parents… If teenagers are under these environments for a long time, they become mentally exhausted and reach the moment where they just want to give up everything by crossing the river of no return.

How would you feel after you had an argument with your friends? A bit frustrated, and depressed as well, right? Then how would you feel if you get bullied from others? What if you do not have any friends that can understand you and warm your heart? The second suicide reason is related to friends. Teenagers spend a lot of time with their friends sharing their interests and hobbies as well as telling their concerns and get cheered up from each other. In other words, teenagers need friends to express their thoughts. But what if friends turn their back on you? Personally, I would be VERY depressed. We, the humans, are social animals. We are not able to live without having any social interactions. Becoming a victim of bullying, or became socially rejected from others may give serious damage to one’s mental health. Hence, teenagers are very easily to get mental disorders, such as depression, since they can be very emotional at some moments. And if it lasts for a long time… unfortunately, yes, committing suicides might happen as a result.

School is probably one of the most important things from a teen’s life. Teenagers learn new things and have social interactions at schools. Likewise, school will be the place that teenagers would spend most of their time except their homes. The problem is that, what if they do not enjoy their school life and get stressed every day? What if they get bad grades on their studies and starting to lose hope that they can do it better next time? There are some students who are very sensitive at getting grades, and if they are not satisfied with their grades, some of them just burst into tears and they are in a panic. Sometimes there are some teenagers who just end up their lives because they became depressed and thought there is no hope for them.

Drug abuse is also becoming a very big issue among teenagers these days. Some teenagers start going on drugs because of their ultimate curiosity or occasionally by peer pressure; however, they did not notice that drugs are very fatal that can lead them to death. Once teens are addicted to drugs, they just can’t help it. They want drugs more and more. The overdose of drugs just leads these poor teenagers to finish their lives so that they can get away from addiction.

So, you’ve heard some factors that lead teenagers to commit suicide, and now I’d like to ask you this question: how do you think of teenagers committing suicide? Five teenagers already have answered the question. For their personal privacy, their names will not be read out loud. Then let me read their responses.

Teen A responded that “Teen suicide is a very depressing topic because it’s extremely hard to try and relate to these teenagers. There are many different reasons why teens commit suicide and she thinks most of them are not feasible. You have your whole life ahead of you and of course there will be times when you are unhappy and have problems but that doesn’t mean that you should kill yourself. Whenever you have a problem the answer is not to kill yourself.”

Teen B said that “committing suicide is a way for some people to get away from their stress and problems. Since most of them take their life away because they feel bad about something or stressed out, she thinks it is a serious issue for those people and she would advise them to seek professional help. It is a terrific thought of taking away your own life and she certainly believes that there are other ways to manage with stress problems. There are still much better ways to handle this situation rather than committing suicide.”

Teen C also made a comment that apparently “girls tend to think about suicide twice as much as boy do, yet four times as many boys die from suicide. Teenagers struggle to see the point of dealing with some troublesome situations and/or feel as if they can’t handle them. She believes teen suicide is a waste of a life which still has so much left in it.

So, Teen A, B and C suggest that teenage suicide should not happen.

Then Teen D answered in sort of different way. “She doesn’t think suicide is something that she has much experienced with. She doesn’t know any people who have done it. However, through watching movies and documentaries she has seen some of the factors that indicate whether a person commit suicide or not. She does not think suicide is that common in her environment here in Mongolia because of the support we can get from friends, family and school, all things which can make a person commit suicide. Overall, she was in neutral whether teen suicide is right or wrong since she did not have any experiences.”

Lastly, Teen E replied with a lot of background information. He thinks that “teen suicide is a colossal problem in the world, especially in the US and East Asian countries. The major cause of this is stress from school. This is not such a great issue in the States, where the only problem teenagers face is the conflict between students, and assimilating into the school society, but in countries like Korea, Japan, and China, the issues are aggravated by the competition of “academics” for admission of college, as well as corporal punishment. It has been studied that one of the largest adolescent suicide rates come from Korea, where students prepare to go to college ever since elementary school.” Wow, thanks for very detailed info.

(Short Pause)

Most of responses tend to have negative image against teenage suicide. They suggest that teens committing suicide is not a very appropriate way, and therefore there should be some ways to prevent suicides. In my opinion, I also believe that teenage suicide should be stopped. I totally agree with what others have said. I am a teenager as well, and I also sometimes feel depressed, hopeless and desperate to give up. I also have thought that finishing my life would be the best way to have a comfortable rest. BUT, in fact, it’s NOT TRUE. One’s life is very worthy. It belongs not only to him or her, but also to his/her family, especially mom and dad. I would like to ask those who attempt to commit suicide whether they have considered about their parents after they end up their lives. Furthermore, we, the teenagers, are still growing both mentally and physically. After we grow up, we will be facing a lot of problems in our lives, and some of them might be even worse than the problems that we have now. Therefore, all the hardships that we are struggling at the moment are like some practices for our future. If we overcome them, then we will be able to enjoy our lives after we become adults.

Okay then, what should people do in order to prevent teenage suicides? Basically, the most important factor for family members and friends to help teenagers attempting suicides is to understand their minds and behaviors well. I found out that there are some warning signs of teens committing suicide. For example, when he or she talks about death or suicide in general, it can be one of signs that she is depressed or feeling guilty. Having no desire to participate in favorite activities or having a trouble to concentrate or think clearly may also be some dangerous signs. Furthermore, if he/she starts to make some self-destructive actions, such as drinking alcohol, or going on drugs heavily, you should be aware of him or her. Dramatic mood swing can also be a significant warning sign. If your friend or child seems to have a lot of mood changes, then you should consider whether he/she is having a trouble or depressed at the moment.

Parents should keep a close eye on their teenagers who seem very depressed and try to have more time to have a conversation with their children. Reassure teenagers that parents can be a help whenever they need for it. Also, Parents should be able to listen openly without making any judgments and believe what he or she says. Also parents need to understand seriously about the threats that are bugging their child. If teenagers do not feel comfortable sharing their concerns with their parents and try to avoid them, parents can suggest their children to talk to someone who is more neutral, such as other relatives, or school member.

Some parents hesitate to ask their teens whether they have thought of committing suicide because they may give the idea of suicide to their children. However, I would suggest parents to ask their children if they are thinking about suicide. Asking directly often helps people to talk about their concerns more easily. Likewise, teenagers may feel more comfortable to tell how they feel like when their parents directly ask them whether they think about committing suicide.
Furthermore, if teenager’s symptom of being depressed seems severe, it is better to take him/her to the psychologist and look for ways to cure his/her depression.

If you want to help a teen from committing suicide as a friend, having a serious conversation about a teen’s problem may help to release one’s depression as well. Tell him/her that you will be always there if there is a need of help. A comforting word can warm a teen’s mind and it will lessen the tension of depression.

For those who think of committing suicide, I would like to encourage them to think positively. I know it will be hard for them just to be optimistic when they are in blue mood; however, at least trying to think positive things would be able to give changes in their moods.

(Short pause)

This is all for today, and I would like to thank everyone who listened to my podcast. Also, I really appreciate for those who answered the survey question. You were listening to HY’s podcast, and I’ll be back with another interesting topic to discuss. See you!