This is a paper I wrote in 10th grade about suicide. It was part of a "Me Book". It was the chapter titled: The Most Pressing Social Issue Faced By Teens.

    When I looked at this chapter's topic, my first thoughts were to write about gangs, violence, STD's or pregnancy. However, due to some recent events, I am compelled to write about suicide. Lately, suicide has had quite an effect on me. I have had two specific dealings with it quite recently.
    Not long ago, I found out that my best friend tried to slit her wrists. Thank goodness, she did not succeed, but it is scary to think about her trying. I couldn't imagine life without her. I knew she was having a lot of problems: family difficulties, a sexual harassment situation, dealing with moving, and so on. I just had never thought that she would feel solution came in death. I just never thought...
    Also, very, very recently, a really close friend of mine attempted suicide. I was talking to him when he did it. Our conversation first started about how he was having problems with his fianc�. I was just sitting there listening to him and being a friend to him when he suddenly went off edge. He began talking about ending it and how much he wanted death. I was scared, and because he was out of state, all I could do was cry and beg him not to. Well, he tried to. He took a blade and slit his throat. I told him to hold on and to seek help, but he kept fading away. Then, I told him I loved him and needed him and suddenly he snapped out of it. He bandaged himself up and sought help. Luckily, he survived. He lost a lot of blood, but he made it through. He told me he had wanted to drown in his own blood. The day afterward, the cut collapsed his throat and he began to suffocate. Somehow, he survived that. He told me that his Goddesses, the ones he prayed to most, appeared to him and showed him his purpose for living. During the time he saw these Goddesses, his cut completely healed and all the blood disappeared. Now, physically, he is healed. However, emotionally, the scars remain.
    Now, I know that I am not the only one affected by suicide. Among youths ages 15-19, suicide was the third leading cause of death. According to the Center for Disease Control, during a twelve month period ending in 1990: 3.6 million teens "considered taking their lives"; 2.1 million teens "devised a suicide plan"; 1 million teens made an attempt; and 274,000 required medical treatment. Every attempt and success at suicide affects the person's family, friends, and anybody else around them. This is a very serious issue. It can only bring hurt, pain, and worry. When a suicide attempt succeeds, a human soul is lost, ripped from the Earth before its time.

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