Suicide Among the Youth

A human being’s life is always faced with challenges but we should always try to overcome them. When challenges become too rigid, many people tend to lose hope, hail curses at themselves and even others especially the youth heed to taking away their lives.

However, what we do not have in mind is that challenges are made to be there. No matter how hard a challenge is, it always has a solution. Many people, especially the youth, tend to kill themselves only because they think they do not have a solution.

Suicide is on the rise among young people, especially students, who reportedly kill themselves mainly due to poor performance, drug abuse, stress and relationship disputes. Of late, suicidal attempts have become very common in our countries and it keeps increasing every day.

According to a study conducted in the year 2013 by the University of Nairobi’s Department of Psychiatry, youth resort to suicide due to depression and anxiety. Suicide among the youth has increased because parents are too busy to look after their businesses and forget to mentor their children.

More males commit suicide than females. This is because girls and women share their problems easily, whereas boys are taught to be tough. The recent case of a Standard Eight Pupil who committed suicide for being outsmarted by a classmate left many in shock.

We should be on the lookout for suicide warnings in our siblings, parents, friends and colleagues. Any suicidal tendency should be addressed as soon as possible. Schools should offer adequate counselling to depressed students who may tend to commit suicide.

There is need to save this generation from wrongly believing that academic excellence is the only key to a successful life. Emphasis on technical education will make them have new beliefs in their goals.

Statistics on suicide by young people in Kenya in the past two years are frightening. The rate at which students are attempting and committing suicide is alarming.

At the same time, let us bear in mind that bad parenting is partly to blame for the suicide cases. It is time institutions and community groups provided affordable or even free counselling services that will reduce the number of youth contemplating suicide. This will help avert suicide!!!!!