Here in the land of the free and the home of the brave we have AIDS, the homeless, the "war" on drugs and any form of debauchery known to man (specially here in Las Vegas). Something new has joined the ranks, adolesecent suicide.
I had dinner last night with my soon to be sister-in-law. We were talking about different subjects until the topic of her daughter's recent suicide came up. As the conversation progressed, she told me that since her daughter's death, at least 3 more young people under the age of 18 have taken their own lives.
She told me a story of a 12 year old boy who has a family history of violence and abuse. The parents are divorced and the family court judge decided on joint custody for this boy and his siblings. The children clearly did not want to live with the father. The father is a ex-marine with a history of abuse. He also kept guns and ammo in the home where children could easily gain access. Before this boy took his life he said to his brother "I am doing this so you don't have to live with dad."
As I was sitting there listening to this story, I could not help but be appalled by some of the obvious flaws in the family court system. How could any judge in his/her right mind mandate joint custody when it was clear that these kids were being subjected to abuse? Something else disturbed me as well. How could any responsible parent leave guns and ammo in the path of children?
There is such a need for change here in Nevada on how troubled adolescents are handled by the judicial system. My sister-in-law is slowly becoming a advocate for these long overdue changes. It had to take the suicide of a 16 year old girl to make the Nevada legislature finally stand up and take notice. My only comfort is that she did not die in vain.
I have included a link to "Out of the Darkness" a website dedicated to suicide prevention and awareness. Their annual fundraiser/walk is scheduled for October 8, 2005 in which I will be participating. Hopefully we will have raised some awareness for the latest American Epidemic.
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Hiya Marie,
You are absolutely right, it is an epidemic, as are bulemia and anorexia...the encouragement to be "perfect." Many teens find themselves following short from these unobtainable goals, it's so much presssure.
As a former social work student, I know first-hand how screwed up the system is. Sometimes the SW's hands are tied as far as having to have certain types of proof, and sometimes it comes down to who has the better lawyer...very sad. But unfortunately, there are a lot of incompetent and/or unhealthy social workers themselves in the field...trust me.
I think in certain cases where abuse becomes an accusation during a divorce, at that point, all attorneys involved in the case should be dropped and let court-appointed ones or ones who must do their mandatory pro bono take over.
This would deter attorneys from making false accusations by the high-priced attorneys (they'd lose the money of having the case if they made these claims just to win/sweeten the pot), and both participants would now be represented on equal footing and fairly.
Just an idea...:)
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