Suicide Among Teenagers

INTRODUCTION

“Suicide is the successful completion of the act to end one’s life”, says Professor James T. Clemons. This forms the basis of my theme and my intention is to highlight the heartbreaking increase of teenage suicide in the Caribbean. I specifically chose this issue because I know that being a young person in today’s society is no easy task but suicide is not the answer.

From my personal interviews conducted, I discovered that over 80% of the teenagers believe that no-one understands their daily stress and as such, their minds are often filled with suicidal thoughts. My intentions were clearly developed in my expository piece through facts as well as my reflective piece, in the form of a skit, which enabled better understanding due to the casual conversations involved.

Personally, I know that it may be difficult at times to deal with everything against you but it is just temporary and so I enjoy being a peer counselor at school. Academically, the theme is relatable to me because the subjects that I pursue involve a great deal of research in these areas and so can help me to become a psychiatrist one day. I hope that you enjoy my portfolio, in addition to being aware of this growing issue.

PREFACE

This assessment focuses on the issue of teenage suicide in the Caribbean. My peers and I are disheartened when we think about how many challenges teens face in life and how much easier they believe it is to take one’s own life. I deemed it necessary to highlight this ongoing and increasing epidemic in the Caribbean and create as many solutions possible to curb this problem.

The main target audience of the piece were teenagers, but parents and teachers too, since the problem directly relates to them, and so allows the issue to be seen from a variety of perspectives. The genre chosen was a skit because of its structure’s ability to be...