Project on ‘teen suicide’ seeks youth to share experiences

In times of trying moments, there is always a thought that comes to everybody’s mind – escape. Escape the hardships, the pain, the grief, the overwhelming thought of having to move away from home, parent conflict, social conflicts just makes us want to end it.

In recent days, I have been on a quest to gather information for a project I am working on which speaks on the subject of teen suicide. I’ve been spending countless hours interviewing (after work hours of course), researching, sending countless emails and even opening up my own personal phone for people to share their experiences with suicide with me. I started thinking about this project when I started a group called, “Stop Teen Suicide” which can be found on Facebook groups.

In my own experiences, I recall having to lose my closest friends, then my neighbours. Eventually it involved my family.

My uncle was one of them. He was a hard worker, held many names. He was a loving type of person to be with and even loved to share what he had with others. But growing up, he had an inner battle – a battle that took his life and shattered the circle of our family. Could have this been prevented? Yes.

However, at the time of this ordeal, there was little hope for many of us. Resources were limited then. It seemed so overwhelming that after the death of my uncle, a few days later, our neighbour then took his own life which caused even a greater pain not only to my family but the community as a whole.

Months have past. Years have gone by. Many of us continue to hear of someone taking their own life and it seems too normal now a days. It seems the message we all send to one another is, “It’s OK.”

But really, it isn’t. My goal, vision and purpose for this project is to hopefully bring awareness to the younger generation – to let them know that there is hope and a purpose in life for them. So far, the responses I’ve been getting have been by far more than what I had expected.

Emails have come in from the great US of A, countries overseas and of course locally. As this is an ongoing project, I am hoping to deliver this to schools and community based youth groups. I am also looking to find someone reliable who I can work with and hopefully score a few good working laptop computers to use in this mission project.

If you’d like to keep in touch or would like to meet other people involved in this project, you can find our group on Facebook under the name, “Stop Teen Suicide.”

Any comments, feedback or questions are welcome. If you or someone you know is in need of help due to a loss of a friend or just feeling like there is no use to live, please talk to someone or phone the kids helpline which is included in this edition of SEVEN.

As the technology in the north increases in speed and strength and the resources become more openly available, let’s work together; get together and combat together to win back the seventh generation!