Table of Contents 1. Cover page 2. Letter of Transmittal 3. Informative Abstract 4.
Body 5. Works Cited 6. Appendix/Glossary Letter of Transmittal Introduction: Over the past few years we have seen an incredible increase in teenage suicide, primarily resulting from school bullying. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teenagers.
This has become a serious epidemic. Every year there are about 157,000 teenagers who receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries in the United States. Because of the low funding and non-awareness of the issue of teenage suicide there is a great chance that these numbers could increase.Statement of Problem: We need to provide our youth with different and effective ways of handling stressful situations during their most difficult years and difficult situations.
Many teenagers are not armed appropriately to handle different pressures of life without help. Depression is said to be the leading cause of teenage suicide. Whether it is bullying or changes at home it is important to educate teenagers on the importance of positively expressing their feelings and that they should not blame themselves. Proposed Solution: One possible solution to this problem is to have support groups at school.
This is a way that students can feel comfortable speaking about their problems with a group of peers so they don’t feel like they are alone. We need a program at schools to help teenagers build awareness on this subject. Even saving one child’s life would be a great accomplishment. Scope: To effectively build teenage suicide awareness I plan to ask focus groups the following questions: 1. What programs are currently being offered at schools? 2. How large is the demand for suicidal prevention programs in schools? 3.
What would be the cost of providing awareness at schools? 4. How can awareness programs be set up?Methods: I will research currant suicide prevention methods at schools by speaking to school authorities and researching educational data. I will talk to school counselors about the feasibility of setting up peer groups. My Qualifications: As a mother of a teenager I am aware that hormonal changes come about at this crucial age. I also know of children in my community, of the same age as my daughter, that have attempted or thought about committing suicide due to bullying in school. My minor will be in Psychology and I would like to know the thoughts that go through the mind of a teenager considering suicide.
My determination to find a way of providing children with a way to express their feelings and request help avoiding suicide encourages me to make this study a successful one. Conclusion: We need to build awareness of the problem of teenage suicide in all schools. I believe if we find a way of providing children access to programs or people who they could reach out to and ask for help the number of teenage suicides will decrease. If we begin this study and start off by asking the appropriate questions mentioned above we will understand where to begin and what exact information our youth is requesting when they are going through troubled times.I would like to begin this study right away. If we are able to build a program that educates and saves at least one child I believe it was all worth it.
Audience and Purpose: Primary audience: School administrators and parents. Secondary audience: Prof. Diane Mooney. Relationship with audience: Parents, young adults.
Purpose of document: To build awareness of youth suicides. Audience and purpose statement: To persuade my audience that through awareness and preventive measures teenage suicide can be deferred, to alert my audience of the statistics of teenage suicide, bullying, and ways to prevent it.Intended use of document: To influence school administrators and parents to provide local programs for awareness and prevention of teenage suicide. Information needs: Local and national statistics on teenage suicide, suicides of all ages, local and national statistics on bullying. Technical background: Audience does not have much information regarding current statistics of national and local teenage suicides. Cultural considerations: Eastern country families will need to be addressed separately and be taught that open communication is best in these instances opposed to tradition forms of communication.
Probable questions: How well will the program be received by the community? How will families with non-American traditions receive advice given? Will funding be sufficient enough to support a year round program? Probable reaction: Community involvement and volunteering is expected. Small community meetings with mostly parents’ involvement are also expected. Audience Preferences about the Document: Length and detail: 10 pages Format and medium: An information pamphlet and monthly local report. Tone: Helpful, informative, and persuasive. Due date and timing: As soon as possible. Budget: The printing of pamphlets and other reading materials.
Location and manpower will be through volunteer services by the local community members. Informative Abstract In recent times there has been an overwhelming increase in teenage suicide, primarily resulting from school bullying. Suicide has become the third leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States. This has become a serious epidemic. Every year there are about 157,000 teenagers who receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries in the United States.
Because of the low funding and non-awareness of the issue of teenage suicide there is a great chance that these numbers could increase.We need to provide our teenagers with different and effective ways of handling stressful situations, especially during their most difficult times in their lives. Many teenagers are not armed appropriately to handle different pressures of life without help. The numbers of teenagers with clinically diagnosed depression has had an equally steady increase as suicide has. Whether it is bullying or changes at home it is important to educate teenagers on the importance of positively expressing their feelings and that they should not blame themselves.One possible solution to this problem is to have awareness and support groups available at local schools.
This is a way that students can feel comfortable speaking about their problems with a group of peers and informative adults. In this manner they are less likely to feel alone or abandoned and will be informed of the different options that are available to them. We need a program at schools to help teenagers build awareness on this subject. Even saving one child’s life would be a great accomplishment. BodyIn recent times there has been an overwhelming increase in teenage suicide, primarily resulting from school bullying. “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old” in the United States according to reports produced in 2010.
This has become a serious epidemic. “Every year there are approximately 157,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 who receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries at emergency departments across the U. S. ” Because of the low funding and non-awareness of the issue of teenage suicide there is a great chance that these numbers could increase.I would like to persuade many communities, one at a time that through awareness and preventative measures teenage suicide can be deferred. All communities need to be alerted regarding the statistics of teenage suicide, bullying, and all the ways to prevent it.
We need to provide our teenagers with different and effective ways of handling stressful situations, especially during their most difficult times in their lives. Many teenagers are not armed appropriately to handle different pressures of life without help. The numbers of teenagers with clinically diagnosed depression has had an equally steady increase as suicide has.Whether it is bullying or changes at home it is important to educate teenagers on the importance of positively expressing their feelings and that they should not blame themselves. One possible solution to this problem is to have awareness and support groups available at local schools. This is a way that students can feel comfortable speaking about their problems with a group of peers and informative adults.
In this manner they are less likely to feel alone or abandoned and will be informed of the different options that are available to them.We need a program at schools to help teenagers build awareness on this subject. Even saving one child’s life would be a great accomplishment. In order to effectively begin this program I would like to start with a surveyed focus group where I will be asking various questions to assist in the planning and standardizing of the program for all locations. Some particular questions that I would like to assess and become informed about would be: What kinds of programs are currently available in these communities? What would be the budget for providing awareness workshops throughout schools?And most importantly: How many people in the community would be available and interested for volunteering for these programs? Moving forward with the program, after surveying many communities and holding focus groups I would need to continue researching and updating a list of relevant statistics regarding: teenagers and self-inflicted harm, teenagers and suicide, teenagers and bullying, survival rate of attempted suicides, and other pertinent statistics. I will need to assess the statistics of individual community members to become aware of the communities with the members with highest instances of risk factors of suicide.
Multiple risk factors to be taken into consideration are (but are not limited to): “history of previous suicide attempts, family history of suicide, history of depression or other mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse, stressful life event or loss, easy access to lethal methods, exposure to the suicidal behavior of others, incarceration. ” I would also like to research and include in my reports currant suicide prevention methods that are implemented at schools as well as phone numbers to hotlines and counselors that are available 24 hours out of the day.I can also seek statistical and local hotline and counselor information by speaking to school authorities, parents, churches, social workers, and healthcare case managers. Following my research, I will need to hold meetings with school administrators and parent teacher associations to ask for assistance in organizing the awareness meetings.
I will discuss a number of things. One being: to ask for consent to hold these awareness meetings in their community in local buildings. I would also ask for their personal involvement as volunteers for the program.Volunteers should be parents, teachers, young adults, and persons experienced in social work, counseling, and therapy. Another discussion will be on budgeting estimations that will cover the cost of printing pamphlets, reading materials, and advertisement posters and letters.
It will need to be planned on how to make the budget last year round and how to raise money. Planning will need to be held to determine appropriate actions of when someone asks for help, the appropriate form of presenting statistical information, and the proper way to discuss sensitive subjects that will arise.Another plan of action that needs to be determined is how to resolve cultural difference and help the teenager or young adult successfully. Eastern country families will need to be addressed separately and be taught that open communication is best in these instances opposed to tradition forms of communication. I believe that this topic closely hits home because I am a mother of a teenager and am well aware of the hormonal changes that come about at this time in a person’s life.I also know of children in my community, of the same age as my daughter that have attempted or thought about committing suicide due to bullying in school.
I have been studying to achieve a degree in Psychology and I think this type of project will help me become more understanding to the thoughts that teenagers of this day in age are experiencing. My determination is to find a way of providing children, teenagers, and adults alike, with a way to express their feelings and request help avoiding suicide encourages me to make this study a successful one.Conclusion: We need to build awareness of the problem of teenage suicide in all schools. I believe if we find a way of providing children access to programs or people who they could reach out to and ask for help the number of teenage suicides will decrease.
If we begin this study and start off by asking the appropriate questions mentioned above we will understand where to begin and what exact information our youth is requesting when they are going through troubled times. I would like to begin this study right away.If we are able to build a program that educates and saves at least one child I believe it was all worth it. Audience and Purpose: Primary audience: School administrators and parents. Audience and purpose statement: To persuade my audience that through awareness and preventive measures teenage suicide can be deferred, to alert my audience of the statistics of teenage suicide, bullying, and ways to prevent it. Intended use of document: To influence school administrators and parents to provide local programs for awareness and prevention of teenage suicide.
Information needs: Local and national statistics on teenage suicide, suicides of all ages, local and national statistics on bullying. Technical background: Audience does not have much information regarding current statistics of national and local teenage suicides. Cultural considerations: Eastern country families will need to be addressed separately and be taught that open communication is best in these instances opposed to tradition forms of communication. Probable questions: How well will the program be received by the community? How will families with non-American traditions receive advice given?Will funding be sufficient enough to support a year round program? Probable reaction: Community involvement and volunteering is expected. Small community meetings with mostly parents’ involvement are also expected.
Works Cited 1. http://www. afsp. org/index. cfm? page_id=04ea1254-bd31-1fa3-c549d77e6ca6aa37 2.
http://www. nimh. nih. gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index. shtml 3. http://www.
cdc. gov/violenceprevention/pub/youth_suicide. html 4. http://www.
afsp. org/index. cfm? fuseaction=home. viewpage&page_id=050fea9f-b064-4092-b1135c3a70de1fda
