1 Youth Suicide Issue
Youth suicide is a heavy topic. Such tragedies have been occurring frequently in recent years. Behind each case is a fading young life and a shattered family.
**Suicide is not a rare phenomenon.**
Perhaps due to the sensitivity of the topic, many people think that “suicide” is a rare phenomenon, but in fact, with the faster pace of society and the explosion of information flow, suicide is becoming a “norm.”
Within the age distribution of suicide victims, 12 years old ranks first (40.3%), followed by 14 years old (22.7%), 11 years old and 13 years old (13.6%). In terms of gender comparison among suicide victims, girls far outnumber boys: girls account for (72.7%), while boys represent only (23.7%).
2 Why Are So Many Children Committing Suicide?
The “Education Blue Book” once conducted a survey on the national primary and secondary school students’ suicide issue based on media reports.
Among the collected 79 cases of suicide, academic pressure is the primary factor leading to the suicides of primary and secondary school students; this pressure-dominated suicide accounts for the vast majority of the suicides among Chinese primary and secondary school students.
Among the 8 cases with suspected reasons reported, 5 were related to academic pressure. In the 57 cases with clearly identified suicide causes, this number soared to 43 cases.
That is to say, regardless of clear or suspected reasons, nearly 75% of cases are related to academic pressure.
3 Identifying Suicide Tendencies
Speech or Thought Patterns: Individuals with suicidal tendencies may exhibit pessimism, despair, helplessness, negativity, and intentions when speaking or writing. They may use negative, despairing language when talking about the future, such as “I feel there’s no meaning in living” or “I want to leave this world.”
Behavioral Signals: People with suicidal tendencies might display uncontrollable emotions like crying, anger, anxiety, or indifference. They may suddenly give up interests or social activities, begin to distance themselves from friends and family, and feel depressed, helpless, and lonely. They may start showing self-harm behaviors, substance abuse, or dangerous actions like excessive alcohol consumption.
Life Conditions: Individuals with suicidal tendencies may face challenges and difficulties in life, such as unemployment, strained family relationships, traumatic experiences, health problems, etc. These situations may make them feel hopeless and helpless, leading to suicidal tendencies.
Adolescence is the second crucial stage of self-awareness development, where they desire independence but also cannot do without family support, creating a period of inner conflict. Families and schools are the primary living environments for teenagers. It is essential for parents and school teachers to understand the characteristics of adolescent psychological development to correctly grasp the underlying demands behind their children’s words and actions, rather than imposing their expectations on the children, eventually leading to tragedies.
Early detection of unreasonable conditions in teenagers and nipping the crisis in the bud are skills that every school’s psychological counselor must possess. Although the country mandates every school to have a psychological counselor, the abilities of these counselors vary, and when facing the crisis of “suicide,” most lack relevant handling experience or training. Imagine teachers without crisis intervention skills, how would they handle a student with suicidal tendencies when faced with an emergency situation?
In order to reduce incidents like the “Hu Xinyu Incident,” we must change the notion of “only focusing on academic performance” and ensure that the counseling rooms in schools play a genuine role in helping students grow healthily instead of just being a formality for inspections. Psychological counselors should no longer have multiple roles, but have time to enhance their professional skills to better aid students’ growth.
We can never know for certain who will harm themselves, nor can we protect everyone. But all efforts, training, learning, and intervention, as long as they can save one precious life, are worth it.
From society, to schools, and to families, there are many things we can do. We can strengthen all aspects of “protective factors” instead of placing the responsibility for change solely on the weakest link, the suicide victims.
We will all grow old, and the younger generation is China’s future. Valuing the mental health of young people cannot just be about shouting slogans; there must be real actions taken.
Stay strong!!
