Teen Suicide – How to Prevent Part 4

Dear Ezine readers, today I would like to share with you my findings from various studies on the growing trend among the new generations of adolescents and adolescents in the world. Although this problem is less well known in third world countries, it is more common in developed and developing countries. Shri Jagan Nath BA, a famous social worker used to say, “Adolescents are like a jug of half-moulded immature clay, whatever shape the potter wants, he molds” without quotes.

He was of the opinion that the responsibility of parents, teachers and elders is to ensure that:

one, our teenagers become the best humans;

ears, the best socially adaptable beings;

others strong enough to withstand any kind of hardship;

of our being courteous so that others love them;

be scary, worrisome, and annoying;

osix very judicious and sensitive and;

oseven enthusiastic, tough and agile to face the increasing challenges of life.

Based on the previous theme, I will dwell on several issues that attribute to adolescent suicide. All of you would agree that when a teenager has committed suicide; united we have failed to perceive their mood attributes MSSR and VCD. In this article, I would like to further the discussion on different issues that affect the delicate state of mind of a teenager.

The first problem is related to the role of electronic media, television, magazines and other vulgar materials that distract even most adults. To what extent are we responsible for vulgarizing the world? In the name of truth, today the electronic media have forgotten their social function. Everyone knows that under the garment everyone is naked but how this statement is projected is the clever vision of the media. Similarly, the one-eyed man is blind in one eye is the truth, but directly addressing him as a blind XYZ would be tantamount to abusing him, but a polite word wouldn’t anger him as much as being bluntly called blind. Today, the global media is actually abusing the right to information and freedom to pollute the society, thus poisoning the minds of adolescents through their bedroom serials. Until now, the global electronic media, in general, have not lived up to the expectations of society. The true example could be determined by the fact that the media continued to carry news about the bare chest of a super model whose bra had slipped while she was walking on the ramp.

You will agree that our electronic media have penetrated every common man’s bedroom through shows and programs. In the name of freedom, most of the televised programs directly broadcast immoral offensive and obscene programs, thus poisoning the mind of adolescents at a very tender age. The fact that parents cannot compel their children in itself is an indicator of the fall of freedom from the moral responsibilities of social experts. The Muslim world’s uproar to stop Western television broadcasting stems solely from the fear of poisoning Orthodox society. Also, in general, I agree with Muslim’s point of view of preventing vulgarity in the home through the media. Why are there over 36,000 child pornography sites on the Internet? Why should any government call for these criminals to be prosecuted? It is difficult to understand how deeply the mind of an adolescent is affected by the media, but it is easy to see how effectively she has disturbed and developed mental disorder in her young minds.

Since electronic media is the most effective means of affecting the minds of adolescents, they should be used to save their lives, not poison them. In view of the above, I suggest;

o Adolescents are educated to differentiate between vulgarity, obscenity and simplicity;

o Advise that they only watch age-appropriate programs;

o Explain why a program is issued to eradicate what social evil;

oEducate adolescents so that they learn on the basis of the need to know according to their age. I often remember that when I was almost fourteen years old, an old man from our village went to the heavenly abode. When I tried to accompany his corpse with the villagers to the crematorium, my father, Shri Jagan Nath BA, said, “It is a pious duty of all to honor and accompany the corpse of the deceased soul to the crematorium, but today you have not yet grown enough to accompany, therefore, return to the house. When you grow up, you can go with others” without quotes. How deliberately and effectively my father had brought me up; both for my social and material obligations is worth mentioning.

oEducate your teenagers to be selective when watching various programs;

oAlways remind your teens that all shows are like dreams and far removed from the realities of life, so never try to impersonate TV or other comic characters.

o Never be harsh with teens when controlling viewing; rather educate yourself on why you want to check;

oInternet media through which many adolescents have been victimized. In some cases, these teens have ended their lives before they even understand the true meaning of marriage and their social responsibilities. Various groups, promoted to become friends; and, from then on, the exploited adolescents are just as bad and the epidemics of malevolence spread in the society. Not understanding the real obstacles to the institution of marriage in society, many teenagers commit suicide after immersing themselves in it. To overcome the desires for lust spread through the media, they get married without the blessing of their elders, which later leads them to commit suicide.

The second issue revolves around the glamor and glitz of celebrity status and its publicized effect on today’s teens. As teens begin to live in their own dream world as they enter their teens, any impediments are seriously considered. Vulgar pornography activists sometimes become role models for thousands of teenagers. While teens have failed to understand how such people have become celebrities through irresponsible media glamor and catch-up on the one hand, parents refuse to block such vulgar sites on the other. The failure of the governments of various countries to establish norms for a social society has resulted in the elevation of such people as symbols of vulgarity. The multiplication of hundreds of pornographic sites in the United States of America, Europe and some countries in the Middle East must be strongly repressed. In fact, a large number of these sites are loaded from the US.

It is not about how we should raise our children; but what we need to do to make our children socially responsible is what matters most in today’s environment. Nowadays, the whole emphasis of our educational system is to educate our future teenagers in the materialistic world with some social responsibilities. In today’s modern educational system, all but a few Muslim countries are more or less directed at educating how to accumulate worldly wealth and not at developing social character. The ancient Indian educational system of sages and saints was invented for; one first develops strong individual character, two identify students’ suitability for different walks of life; and three then provide students with specialized higher education in a particular field of life, but the current system is full of flaws, making teenagers vulnerable to all sorts of threats. My esteemed readers would be shocked to learn that every year thousands of teenage girls are pushed into the meat trade and prostitution due to various reasons all over the world.

Third, I would say that teenagers who are full of curiosity to explore the world with what little knowledge they have are the easiest targets to penetrate. The reason teens easily fall for praying is due to:

oOne; Great ability to take risks in life. Adolescents, being immature, are incapable of analyzing problems in depth, so they take risks without fully understanding their implications.

oTwo; curiosity to explore and learn early; In general, it has been found that all neglected adolescents take pleasure in trying to get to know life and the world from an early age. A large number of teenagers have succumbed to various criminals and illegal persons.

oThree; curiosity to compete with others like “I’m first”; It is revealed from the study of some cases of suicide of girls; that they also had to end their lives because in the desire to know first, they had fallen into praying to the criminals.

After knowing the weaknesses of adolescents, we can introduce steps to prevent adolescent suicide. Once again, the role of parents and teachers is important to guide and lead these adolescents towards a respectable social life.

I would further recommend that we need to make our print and electronic media more accountable to society. These media spectacles that expose vulgarity and nudity must stop, even if it comes at the cost of curtailing some freedoms. The truth of freedom that every human being is born naked, therefore, every human being must live as such, can only be allowed in the jungle and forests but not in a civilized society. I would dwell more on issues to prevent adolescent suicide. The irritants that teenagers hate would also be airbrushed.

I convey my appreciation and sincere thanks to all esteemed Ezine readers once again.