As if we don’t already know how bad the situation of some teenagers are now. Some are experiencing being violated and equally bad, some are doing the violence against each other. But what gets them to this point of thinking? How can they go on doing things like this? How do parents prevent their child from coming to the point where he violates himself and other people as well?

The thing about parents is that sometimes they just don’t see that there is something wrong about their kid. It may be understandable for some parents because some teenager manage to hide things from them. This quality of teens may be normal but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is acceptable. So, once they see something, as early as possible parents must be vigilant about it.

Some parents doesn’t want to be confrontational to their child because they worry about their child’s feelings. They don’t want to be tagged by their child. They worry that their child might think that they are being underestimated and their parents are narrow-minded. The thing is, its not underestimation, its guidance.

Science believes that the brain of a teenager doesn’t fully develop at their age so, a certain point of their brain is not working as well as the adults’ brains do. Meaning, they may be capable of making decisions but there are things that they might not be able to decide on properly. You let them do things because you trust them and you know that they can decide for themselves but guidance is still of essence. You have to respect their decisions; but there are things that as an adult you understand more not just because you have more experiences but also because of your physiology itself. But that shouldn’t mean that you don’t listen to them. If there is one thing you have to avoid, never shut them up if they are trying to reason out. If you know they did something wrong, explain to them the consequences of their act and why you are punishing them for it. Its not just about punishment, it’s about making them understand the scenario. 

And when it comes to emotion, teenagers are more prone to loving you because of their attachment and their need, your love for them is something that you yourself can not explain but for sure its much deeper. Keep this in your mind, between the two of you selfishness should never come from your side of the relationship.

“Following a decline of more than 28 percent, the suicide rate for 10- to-24-year-olds increased by 8 percent, the largest single-year rise in 15 years, according to a report just released in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).”

– ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2007)

The reported increase began in the middle of 2003 and 2004. Specialists are not sure if this is a short-term occurrence or the beginning of the age where teens can no longer succumb to the distress caused by their own personal issues or their own environment.

According to CDC, particular age ranges and gender had a dramatic annual increase. These are the age group and gender of the highest teen suicide rate:

– For 10- to-14-year-old females, the rate increased from 0.54 per 100,000 in 2003 to 0.95 per 100,000 in 2004

– For 15-to-19 year-old females the rate increased from 2.66 to 3.52 per 100,000

– For 15-to-19 year-old males, the rate increased from 11.61 to 12.65 per 100,000

CDC can not really determine the reason for this sudden increase they were able to acquire a record of the method they used though:

1990- boys and girls commonly used firearms

2004- 71.4% of 10-14 year-old girls who committed suicide used hanging or suffocation. During the period of 2003-2004, there was 119% increase in 10-14 year old girls who hang/suffocated themselves. Boys’ most common method is still firearms.

CDC now aims to gather more information on suicide occurrences (failed/successful) and place them in a centralized system to be able to determine the underlying cause of these attempts. Through this system they wish to be able to succeed in finding ways in helping to prevent teens in committing suicide.

To be labeled as a geek in this day and age can be a difficult thing. Geeks choose to isolate themselves from the world. They choose to hide from the public eye where they won’t be judged. Where they can be themselves. This often leads to depression and loss of confidence.

Today’s society may have forgotten the significance of having people around you. People who could be there when you’re down. People who could pick you off the ground and get you back on the right track. Bullied geeks don’t have that.

Everyone should think about what struggling geeks have to go through in today’s society. Teens suffer ridicule, peer pressure and the like. It’s important to have someone guide you through this rough phase. If not, a person is susceptible to make wrong decisions which in turn could prove fatal.

Take the school shootings for example. The suspects turned out to be students who had been pushed around one time too many. That horrific incident should never had happened should these kids had proper guidance and counseling – not by school personnel but by friends. Friends who could understand what these kids are going through.

It doesn’t matter if you’re popular or not – every one of us needs someone to confide in. And I think it’s about time that we stopped pushing the geeks away.

In the monolithic division in your high school that separates the populars from the losers, where do you stand? Some who belongs in the latter category may not admit that they are part of that crowd, some would probably be glad that they fall in that category while the others are simply “dying” to get out of it. No matter how you look at your spot in the scholastic social system a couple of things are sure: People from the other group are not necessarily better than you are. That you may be so much more than they are in many other things; that they are not necessarily happier than you are; that being lucky does not make you a better person and; that you are the own master of your destiny.

Sadly, not a lot of teens look at their situation this way. The monolithic division that I was talking about earlier becomes a big deal for a lot of them. This division is suddenly dictating to them what they are and what they are bound to be. It’s fortunate that there are many instances that it reaches a certain boundary where the teen can no longer manage it. Their self-esteem together with their pride is crashed to pieces thus, affecting their psychiatric state. This is when things become sensitive. Theres no saying as to how far a person’s imagination can go and, theres no saying as to how far they can believe that it is just imagination. Drugs, alcohol, school shootings, you name it they all happened and much that I don’t want to admit… they will continue happening if the general perception of diversity will not change.

A week ago I was able to grab a copy of Jody Picoult’s latest book “Nineteen Minutes.” Being a person who believes in the simple rule of “an eye for an eye,” I was quite astound to discover myself sympathizing with a teenager who killed 9 of his schoolmates and his Math teacher in his school in a small town in New Hampshire.

If you watch the video, you would know the entire plot and the conflict of the story. But what bothered me most is the lengths that a person can go through once he has had “enough.”

The most disturbing thing about it is that school shootings do happen in real life –several times for the past years and blood-curdling as it may seem, I won’t be surprised if another incident of shooting gets reported soon. Just like Peter from the story, most of these real life incidents were triggered by a constant bullying and discrimination coming from other students– something that most school administrations and parents never really take too seriously. People are very busy dissing and hating the shooter, they never realize that this kind of tragedy will never stop unless people will start paying attention and start becoming more humane to every person around them. So before picking on someone, be sure that that person doesn’t know anything about explosives or guns, you wouldn’t know what he can do if things get really really bad for him.