SUICIDE

Suicide has become the scourge in the western world. An awful number of youth kill themselves overdosing on drugs and in suicide pacts. Yes, there are the ultra-sensitive, those with undetected brain tumours, the younger ones torn by divorce, mutilating themselves and. But let’s be frank here.  Most kill themselves out of anguish and pain…physical, psychological and sexual abuse. They’ve been terrorized, brutalized, beaten, burned, thrown out on the street, rejected,
rebuffed and abandoned. They’ve had a hell of a life.

Told they can’t do anything right, that they are stupid, ugly and good-for-nothing, told they wished they’d never been born, and ruined their parent’s lives. They have been beaten black and blue, burned with oil, stuck out in the freezing snow, told to take a walk and never come back. If you don’t believe me, go to at Emergency at the Children’s and St. Justine’s Hospitals.

There’s the father that incites his daughter to jump under a train, the actress who leaves her children alone with her pedivile boyfriend. The boy who wanted to be a fireman but killed himself because his father said he’d beat up his mother if he didn’t go into the family business. The uncle who assaults his niece, and the mother who takes her baby to bed to masturbate. 

And it’s not a matter of class. The Mount Royal Cemetery is littered with adolescent gay children rejected by their upscale parents. They’ve been put between a rock and a hard place: whether it’s their choice of friends, careers, sexual preference, race or religion of their pals.

Those who do survive, struggle to live and build a family, work and enjoy their existence. For others a broken love-affair, a loss of a parent or even a shattered glass can lead to taking their life.
Remember your children are the best thing you’ll ever have. If you think you need help, get it or one-day you’ll find yourself on mind numbing medication or worse.

We continue age-old stereotypes of the diabolical child. Parents and friends carry shame on their shoulders. On the contrary, it is important to talk, to forgive, to understand and to learn. We all make mistakes. There is always time to repair, if not with those who are gone, at least with someone else and even a stranger.

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