Introduction

Last year in September the United States of America spent a month in outcry over the suicides of numerous teenagers due to bullying of LGTB or suspected LGTB youth. While this in itself is not a new issue, the number of deaths that were reported made national headlines and brought the topic into a forum for a national debate on bullying and what preventive steps can be taken.

Yet while the USA was making quiet a bit of noise about it New Zealand stayed fairly quiet on the subject, despite having the second highest suicide rate of youth per capita, aged from 15-24 worldwide with Finland having the highest. So where is our outcry? Where is New Zealand’s version of the “It Gets Better Project”?

With this blog I want to look at starting a discussion on New Zealand’s suicide rate and what we can do to prevent it and why there appears to be a lack of media attention to the topic.

Why I care

While I write this I am listening to “Make it Stop (September’s Children)” by Rise Against.

On 22 September 2010 Tyler Clamenti jumped to his death off the George Washington bridge after his roommate posted an encounter he had live on the internet. In the following days American media brought Tyler’s story to national attention, and while it my have been what drove Tyler to suicide that first caught their attention, it highlighted the issue of youth suicide to the nation. In the following days more stories came to light and America final started to pay attention. When I looked into New Zealand’s statistics I found that for people under the age of 24 we were the second highest (per capita 100,000) in the developed world.

It’s a year later and New Zealand’s Chief Coroner, Judge Neil MacLean has released the latest statics for suicides in New Zealand. The report found that in this country 558 would die from suicide. Of those, 133 will be under the age of 24. We now have the highest suicide rate of teenage/adult youth girls and third highest of teenage/adult youth boys in the developed world. So where is our outcry? Where is our “It Gets Better Project”? It took 5 deaths in a population of 307,006,550 for America to take notice. We have 133 deaths in a population of 4,414,326. When are we going to stand up and admit there is a major problem and do something about it.

Video

I dont not own this video or claim to.

Music video by Rise Against performing Make It Stop (September's Children). (C) 2011 DGC Records

NZ rules

In New Zealand there are guidelines that must be followed when reporting a suicidal death. Before information my be reported there first must be an inquest by a coroner and only afterwards, with the coroners permission, can any information be released. According to Laura McQuillan, “Journalists require a coroner’s permission to make public any details aside from the deceased’s name, address and occupation, and the fact their death was found to be self-inflicted, but other details may be released if it’s in the public interest, and unlikely to be detrimental to the public’s safety.”

Why should we talk about it?

I know that there is a worry that if we discuss suicide in an open and frank format it might led to a spate of copycat suicides. By discussing it, people might get ideas and knowledge of suicide and learn how to do it and make it a viable option for a person’s life. So for the most part the theory is to provide support only to those that have attempted suicide or have previous acknoledged mental heath issues. This way suicide wont be normalized.

I honestly think that idea is bullshit. With today’s media and online resources there is easy access to that information. Why hide it in one area when the information is so visible in a completely different area.

If we turn this topic to one of free speech it will open the issue up to, not only closed door session held by the government, but also the average New Zealand citizen to debate the issue. And talking about it is probably the most import thing we can do. If we open the discussion up, we can shed light on this critical issue. It is my opinion that by hiding the issue we create a sense of shame around it. The people who follow through never truly get recognized as we think poorly of them. The ones in pain contemplating this final step never speak out for fear of being branded as weak or shamed. This Is Wrong!

Here is where the media in this country will play a vital role. Most people get their information from the news and online sources. We live in a 24 hour news cycle and they need to be allowed to report and editorialize this issue without government restrictions. Without someone trying to hush us.

Another Video

Another Video I will post.

What's happening today.

Organizations such as Casper are trying to get the government to change their policy and update the current guidelines for media reporting. They have a new proposal they have put forward and at this moment I am behind them.

RESOURCES

na na na na na