When will adults say “enough is enough”?

September is suicide awareness month. It seems that everywhere you turn, there were posts about suicide awareness and prevention. Suicide, unfortunately, is a common problem in the United States. In 2017, there were 47,173 recorded suicides, up from 42,773 in 2014, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Suicide rates increased steadily over the past 2 decades before decreasing from 2018 to 2019, according to the same website. In 2019, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States—accounting for 47,511 deaths overall. Suicide is a significant cause of premature death because it is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10–14, 15–24, and 25–34.

Many times, especially in the case of the younger victims, the root cause of the attempt is bullying. The child or young adult gets to a point where they no longer feel the need to stay alive, and feel that everyone would be better off if they were gone due to being bullied by others. And this is more than simply “picking” on someone.

This has to stop. It doesn’t matter how many awareness days or awareness events you have; until parents talk to their kids about bullying, it will never stop. Until parents hold their kids accountable and explain to them the reasoning behind not allowing bullying, it won’t stop. If schools are going to have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, it has to be enforced across the board. It is not always the biggest, the toughest, or the meanest kid that is the bully. Sometimes it’s the one least expected. If a child is allowed to continually pick on someone with no threat of consequences, it is wrong. For children to feel like they can’t defend someone who is being bullied for threats of retaliation is also wrong.

Sometimes children who are participating in bullying activities are doing so because it’s easier to follow the crowd then to step out and go against that crowd especially if the child wants to be included. All of these things lead to people feeling like they have no hope. Because this happens so often and so little is done to actively work to prevent it children and teens are taking their lives at an alarming rate.

Bullying does not just happen between children and teens. Sometimes adults are the victim of bullying, or are actively bullying others. Many times, adults see it as “motivational speaking,” when in reality it is more bullying.

Any time a person is made to feel like less of a person, to feel inferior to someone else, or to think less of themselves because of what others constantly say or do to them, that is bullying and it has to stop across the boardacross the age levels, across the generations, and across the races. It has to stop.

So, please; talk to your kids. Remind them that it is easier to be kind, and to help others out. Remind them that it could just as easily be them in a less than ideal situation. Teach them it is ok to go to someone’s defense, and that it is ok to tell an adult when they see someone being bullied.

And to anyone who feels that ending their life is the only option-I urge you to hold on. Reach out to someone. But above all, do not give up. You still have so much left to offer!