Klaliff Varney

Writing 1010
Argumentative Paper
What Affects Suicide
Suicide is a major issue in the United States being the tenth leading cause of death. (New,
M. (2012, January 1). About Teen Suicide.) There are many different factors that affect a person
to lead them to suicide. Eleven percent of teenagers commit suicide. (Minio,, A. (n.d.).
Mortality Among Teenagers Aged 1219 Years: United States, 19992006) Most of these factors
arise from three different aspects of a teens life: school, home, and social media. Many factors
overlap into a multiple of origins, each origin also has its unique factors. A few of the factors
from school are stress, social status, and bullying. Some of the factors from home are divorced
parents, abuse, and neglect. Some of the factors from technology are cyber bullying and
"Facebook depression" which is defined as depression that develops in teens and preteens who
spend a lot of time on Facebook and begin to exhibit depression like symptoms. Most of the
times when suicide is committed, it is a complete surprise to the family and friends. This shows
that people tend to be unaware of what goes on in a person's life that is causing them to be
thinking about suicide. The real issue isn't just the suicides alone, it's the amount of information
out there about why people commit suicide and how unaware parents and family are about their
kids and whether they may be considering suicide or not. There are studies and research but it is
lacking and there needs to be more research and studies to determine how family can intervene
and help each other out when their loved one is in crisis.
The first factor that can contribute to a teen committing suicide can come from the school
environment. School can produce a plethora of issues that can lead up to suicide, especially high

school. High school in itself is a source of stress and despair. People often dread the idea of high
school as a whole, without all the stress and other issues it brings. (Tom Lyons: Study suggests
high-schoolers' suicides are caused by high school itself. (n.d.)) The rate of suicide increases by a
large margin during the school year and drops off to a minimum during the summer. (Tom
Lyons: Study suggests high-schoolers' suicides are caused by high school itself. (n.d.)) The rate
is also much lower during other breaks from school. (Tom Lyons: Study suggests high-schoolers'
suicides are caused by high school itself. (n.d.)) This plays directly into stress in the way that
during school people have to deal with homework, and time management, and other students.
Homework alone causes a lot of stress especially when combined with poor time management
skills. Other students can be another large source of stress as well in multiple way. Some of
which is bullying. Bullying is a major factor for teen suicide. Teens in high school long to fit in
with other people and have friends but when others constantly put someone down and push them
away from fitting in, they feel isolated, out casted, and alone.( The Dangers of Loneliness. (n.d.))
Being alone will almost always cause depression of sorts which is almost always involved in
suicides. (The Dangers of Loneliness. (n.d.)) Bullying comes in other forms as well. Aside from
being put down, and shoved away, there is also the common "Go kill yourself" phrase, other
insults about looks, wealth, family, any anything else that can be thought of.( National Centre
Against Bullying. (n.d.)) Even if someone looks like they don't care about the comment, they
may have taken it to heart which easily leads to depression.
The other way other peers affect stress is by setting the standard for fitting in. Most
people desire to fit in and have friends. But when standards are set and not met the person who
doesn't meet them is once again, often alone. Peer pressure also affects fitting in. If everybody is
doing one thing it is expected that a person trying to fit in will do it as well, whether it's right or

wrong.( Peer pressure, stress, and depression. (n.d.)) For example if the cool people smoke,
others will smoke as well so they can fit in with the cooler kids. (Peer pressure, stress, and
depression. (n.d.)) Peer pressure makes kids do a lot of things they wouldnt normally do. Kids
are very influential when they are young. If parents were to make it clear what is acceptable
behavior and what is not along with following through when the kid goes against it, there would
be less cases of underage drug use, drinking, and other illegal or morally wrong issues.
The second factor that may lead to suicide is a persons home life. The largest reason
under the home category is parental divorce, especially with men. Men who have witnessed the
struggles of a broken home are three times as likely to commit suicide as someone who has not.
(Correspondent, F. (n.d.). Children from broken homes more likely to have 'suicidal thoughts')
But all kids who have lived in a situation of separated parents are at least twice as likely to
commit suicide, than someone who has not lived with that situation. (Correspondent, F. (n.d.).
Children from broken homes more likely to have 'suicidal thoughts'). Beyond divorced parents,
another issue can often be mixed families. Meaning a divorced parent gets remarried. This can be
an issue because sometimes the family member that was married will not get along with the rest
of the family. (Remarriage with adolescents: The perils of step relationship. (n.d.)) Something
that can happen in both scenarios is abuse and or neglect. Abuse can be physical or emotional,
both of which cause problems within a childs psych. The effects of physical abuse are different
from the effects of emotional abuse. Physical abuse can leave scars and psychological issues
such as fear. Emotional abuse can leave more psychologically scaring issues such as the feeling
of not being good enough, loneliness, and fear to name a few. All of these can lead to depression
and eventually suicide. People who are currently stuck in a physically abusive environment are
more likely to commit suicide at that time, while people who suffered from emotional abuse are

more likely to commit suicide after the fact. Another factor within families is parental pressure.
Parents put a lot of pressure on their kids to be better than everyone else. Some parents believe
that achievement is a bigger priority than being a good person.( Membership. (n.d.)) Kids who
are put in the position of are two to three times more likely to develop clinical levels of
depression because they are forced to focus on achieving something as compared to being who
they or want to be. (Membership. (n.d.))
The third main source of suicidal factors is technology. These factors can from many
devices such as e-mail, texting, online messengers, sending pictures, social networks, and blogs.
(Kersting, K. (n.d.). Technology and Youth Suicide.) Cyber bullying can happen through any of
these means. Some of the transactions that happen through these technological devices are
threats, inappropriate picture sending, blackmail, insults, etcetera. (Kersting, K. (n.d.).
Technology and Youth Suicide.) With cyber bullying it is very easy for someone to remain
anonymous because of screen names and profile pictures. (Kersting, K. (n.d.). Technology and
Youth Suicide.) Because of this it is easier for people to say things they would not say to face to
face with someone because they can't actually see the reaction of the recipient. (Kersting, K.
(n.d.). Technology and Youth Suicide.) This will most likely cause people to say more hurtful
things than they normally would say. (Kersting, K. (n.d.). Technology and Youth Suicide.) This
will also often lead to Facebook depression which again is when someone spends a lot of time on
social networking cites and in turn develops depression like symptoms.
There are many factors that can contribute to someone committing suicide. Parents need
to be aware of these causes so they can know what to look for with their teens. Without proper
knowledge, nothing can be done properly. Beyond just parents needing to be aware, kids also
need to be educated on suicide and where they can get help if they begin thinking about. Many

schools do not teach kids about suicide, how to control their emotions, or where they can get
help. There also needs to be more research into suicide. The amount of information is very
limited for a few reasons. One of which are because when someone commits suicide there isn't
always a note stating why so people can only guess as to why they did it, its difficult if not
impossible to create information out of nothing.. There are also a few other limitations on
research. Often people with depression don't like to talk about which makes it hard to gather
information as to why they may be considering suicide. There are also some more legal issues
with getting this information as well. This is because with anyone under 18 consent forms or
permission to answer questions. Parents play a large role in this as well, or they should be.
Parents should often be checking what types of things their children are posting on social
networking sites. If parents would check what is being posted they could get a better idea of what
is going on in their child's life.( Child Mind Institute. (n.d.)) If parents were aware what was
going on in their kids' social life they would be able to help them out more. One of the largest
problems is parents know that suicide happens, but they feel like they are exempt from it, like it
can't happen within their family.
Overall factors leading to suicide come from many places. They come from school,
home, and technology. School causes a lot of stress and anxiety for teens. At home teens face
many problems, especially with divorced parents or living in non-nuclear families. Technology is
a gateway to many problems as well by allowing psychological bullying. Parents need to be
more aware of what's going on in their child's life, especially with what they post online. Parents
can help lower the rates of suicide but they have to be aware that it can happen to their family
and what causes suicide. Some idea that could at least lessen the rate of suicide are teaching kids
what types of things could lead to suicide and how to prevent and or cooperate with them.

Parents also need to be informed of causes and possible solutions to the problems that lead to
suicide. Another idea is to have schools organize school functions that promote ant-bullying and
staying away from suicide. This functions should not only bee for the students but for the parents
as well. Schools should also be more aware of what happens behind the scenes with students so
they can reduce bullying to a minimum. If bullying were reduced if not stopped, there would be
quite a few less suicides.

Work Cited
New, M. (2012, January 1). About Teen Suicide. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/suicide.html#
Correspondent, F. (n.d.). Children from broken homes more likely to have 'suicidal thoughts'
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Suicidal Behavior. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
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_behavior.html
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Tom Lyons: Study suggests high-schoolers' suicides are caused by high school itself. (n.d.).
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http://www.psyweb.com/articles/depression/parental-divorce-teen-depression
Remarriage with adolescents: The perils of step relationship. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21,
2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/surviving-your-childsadolescence/200909/remarriage-adolescents-the-perils-step-relationship

The Dangers of Loneliness. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/the-dangers-loneliness
National Centre Against Bullying. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
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Peer pressure, stress, and depression. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/opinion/ci_20244572/peer-pressure-stress-anddepression
Kersting, K. (n.d.). Technology and Youth Suicide. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from d
mh.mo.gov/docs/mentalillness/kerstingtechyouthsuicide.pptx
Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2013-11-12-what-do-when-worried-aboutsuicide
Membership. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may11/vol68/num08/TheOverpressured-Student.aspx
Minio,, A. (n.d.). Mortality Among Teenagers Aged 1219 Years: United States, 19992006.
Retrieved November 21, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db37.pdf