In just a month, there have been three reported cases of teens
who took their own lives. They should have cherished their lives
and looked towards the future, says a concerned STOMPer G. School
and relationship problems are not the end of the world, he
adds.
According to a report in The New Paper (June 13), 16-year-old
Darryle Tan Wei Guan, Lim En Han and Krystal Aki Mizoguchi, both
18, fell to their deaths.
Secondary 4 Express student Darryle had been suspended from
school on March 25 for slapping a male teacher. He then took up a
part-time job, studied hard on his own and seemed to be becoming
more positive. However, barely two months after his suspension, on
May 29, he took his own life after apologising to his family on the
phone.
Lim En Han was a bright student at Hwa Chong Institution, but had
been seeing a psychiatrist and her family had withdrawn her from
school in March. According to a report in Lianhe Wanbao, it is
believed that she might have been facing relationship problems as
well as difficulties with her studies, which could have spurred her
to take her own life on June 5.
Krystal Aki Mizoguchi was a half-Japanese, half-Chinese Singaporean
student at Yishun Junior College. However, things took a turn for
the worst when the youth received her A-level results which were
only good enough for her to apply to private universities. That
option "had never crossed (her) mind", she wrote in her blog. On
May 14, she fell to her death.
STOMPer G shares his views:
"After reading the report of the three youth suicides, I felt very
sad. They had so much ahead of them -- they just needed to clear
the stumbling blocks that were in their path instead of stopping
their journey through life.
"The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) has asked that a suicide
prevention programme be put in place in schools here. I agree. We
focus too much on grades until we forget to cater to the human
element.
"Besides, grades are not everything. Look at Facebook co-founder
Mark Zuckerberg. He's a Havard dropout, but look what he is now?
He's wealthy and successful at the age of 27.
"How about Bill Gates? He's the world's most famous school dropout,
and one of the world's most wealthiest people. He, too, left Havard
to work on his start-up company, which is now Microsoft.
"Then you have Steve Jobs who dropped out of Reed College just
after six months because it was a big financial burden on his
working-class parents. If not for him, we wouldn't have iPhones and
iPads and other Apple products!
"So people, don't think taking your own life is the solution to all
of your problems. Work around your problems, and you will become
stronger. Seek help if you need, there's nothing embarrassing about
needing a helping hand. We are but human.
"And most importantly, cherish your lives. You're young! You have
much to live for! You have so many things to do and to see!"
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/what_bugs_me/665158/teens_should_cherish_their_lives_school_and_bgr_arent_everything.html