Suicide in Canadian Teens

Suicide in Canadian Teens

There has been an increase in the cases of suicide and suicide ideation among the Canadian school going teens. This has not just been a problem for Canada, but it has become a global issue. However, in Canada, it has been identified as the second leading cause of death of young people between the ages of 10 to 24 years.  It has been observed that some areas are likely to have a higher provenance of suicide, while others are likely to have fewer cases. Some of the reasons why this is the phenome are because of the socioeconomic status of the people and the incidences of cyberbullying and school bullying. In contemporary society, bullying has taken shape where the rapid development in ICT has offered a new platform.  Young people send other messages, emails, and other social media to threaten others or even harass them. It has been observed both traditional bullying and cyberbullying both contribute to suicidal ideation among young people as it causes stress and depression.  However, the effect of cyberbullying has been found to vary among the researchers because it is a new development, with some noting that its impact is the same as the traditional bullying. At the same time, others are noting that its effects may even be worse.

Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., Roumeliotis, P., & Xu, H. (2014).  Established that both the traditional and cyberbullying results in suicide ideation and attempt among the teens. However, the relationship between these variables is mediated by depression.   They observed that cyberbullying seems to be lethal because it is a new development.  This means that most young people are not adequately prepared and are on the issues that may make them susceptible to cyberbullying.   Some of the factors that have been associated with a considerable increase in cyberbullying include a lack of knowledge among the youths on the safety of the internet.

Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., Roumeliotis, P., & Xu, H. (2014). Further found out that school bullying is very prevalent in this population.  As a result of school bullying, teenagers are likely to develop depression, which increases their suicidal ideation and attempt.  Moreover, the researchers have also found out that cyberbullying is also common in this group of people. There is also a gender difference in the reporting of bullying but school bullying.  Students in school are likely to report cases of bullying than when it occurs on the internet., the researchers have also revealed that girls are also equally bullied on the internet as boys.

Sampasa-Kanyinga and colleagues also point out that the longer the time a teen spends on electronic gadgets such as computers and phones, the more chances of being cyberbullied.   There was a positive correlation between the time spent on the internet and the cases of cyberbullying. This is heightened by the fact it may not be possible to ensure that the teens do not access the internet because of the lifestyle today.  Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive strategy that will ensure limited access to the internet by middle and high school students.

Another significant finding of the research is that the teens who hailed from rural were more likely to entertain suicidal ideation and attempts. This is because there has been a relationship between rurality and suicide ideation in both teenagers and adults. This was confirmed by the case of eastern Ontario, where most people live in rural areas, but the incidences of suicide ideation and attempts are 50% more than the national average.  This means that the students who face school bullying victimization and cyberbullying victimization in rural areas are more likely to commit suicide than those in urban areas.

One of the solutions to the problem of tonnage suicide caused by school bullying and cyberbullying is to have the parents educate their children about online safety.   Most of the teenagers who go the internet may not be are of the risk that they are exposed and the fore there is the need to have the parent play a more proactive role in educating them. Where necessary, the parents should be able to come up with a way that will ensure that the teenager does not access some sites because they may be riskier than others. This should be supplement by the school effort on controlling school and cyber bullying so that that the school and home environment will be conducive for the leaners.

Conclusion

The cases of suicide among middle and high school students in Canada have been on the increase.  One of the reasons this has been the phenomenon is due to the onset of cyberbullying.   Because in the school environment, bullying may be hard, bullying via the internet has become common.  After students are bullied, they are likely to develop stress because they do not want to report, which increase the suicidal ideation and attempt.  The teens who spend most of their time on the internet are more prone to bullying than those who spend less time. The number increases if the students hail from the rural areas in which such cases are higher.  Parents are supposed to educate their children about the safety of the internet   as well as reducing