By Cristina Picozzi, Executive Editor
In 2010, there were a lot of suicides that were made public by the media. Some may remember Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old from western Massachusetts, who took her life at the beginning of the year after classmates harassed her. Others may have heard about Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old from West Islip, NY who took her life in March after cyberbullies took over social media.
However, those that stand out the most are those that happened between last September and October. At least 10 teenagers and young adults committed suicide, and I’m not saying that these are the most important; they are just the ones that were in the media the most.
According to SAVE.org suicide takes the lives of at least 30,000 people every year. For young adults and teenagers between the ages of 15-24, suicide is the third leading cause of death.
It’s clear that the LGBT community is not the only one affected by suicide, although sometimes it may seem that way. We need to remember that there are a lot of things that affect many different kinds of people. Tragic events don’t discriminate; no one is safe.
September 4-10 is National Suicide Prevention Week. All of these people are important. They all should be remembered. We need to remember the lives that were taken from us too early in hopes that the future may be different.
