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The last few months have shown a tremendous increase in the reports of teen suicide across the United States.  Receiving attention worldwide was the case of Phoebe Price, a 15-year-old high school freshman that hanged herself in January of this year.  A large part of her story centered on the topic of bullying and how it affects teens in school today.  But is bullying truly the root cause of the rise in teen suicide rates in recent years?  The issues behind teen suicide are complex to say the least.  Many factors play a role in how teens relate to their peers, handle criticism and tolerate the abusive acts of bullies.   Latest events include Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman that was outed on the internet by his roommate who secretly set up a webcam in Clementi’s dorm room while airing the live feed.  And the recent news of Michigan’s Oakland University student, Corey Jackson, who at only 19 years of age had hanged himself, allegedly the result of anti-gay bullying on campus.  For these young people the pressures that they each faced in both their personal and social lives proved too great for them to handle on their own and found suicide to be their only solution.

What accounts for the seemingly increased activity of violent bullying as well as the rise in teen suicide these past few years?  Can it be as simple as pointing the fingers at the bullies, parents or teachers?  How about branching technology like Facebook, Twitter, blogs or the text message all of which make it so simple to type out a hateful message on an impulse of anger and having it feel almost consequence free?  Because you aren’t directly in front of the person, in turn the feelings of immediate guilt are perhaps minimized.  Though bullying can be traumatizing and an extremely painful experience to endure, what exactly is it that accounts for the ultimate internal despair that leads them to end their lives?  A poor self-image as a result of peer abuse or low self esteem due to lack of love and nurtured support from friends and family?  Most likely it is a combination of all these.

Media must play a crucial role in this as well.  Popular websites that teens access by the millions every day, like Perez Hilton, constantly showcase these news stories with unfounded commentary and even list the alleged content of suicide notes written by the teens themselves, something that is very private and does not contribute to anything positive as far as awareness or support.  Many of these media outlets only seem to be interested in sensationalizing the story and making this tragic news almost appear, dare I say it, glorified and romantically dramatic.  This could also be translated into teens being influenced into thinking it is an acceptable way to deal with a rough time in their lives and perhaps hoping their action of suicide