Its a heavy story; but it needs mentioning

[GabbyLoggon]

CHILD SUICIDES

A reliable report said that in a 7 year period, 176 children under 14 years of age had committe suicidel

The figures take everyones breath away.

The report said half of these tragedies were due to BULLYING.
Many debates on bullying seem to hinge on the difference between banter and bullying.

I suppose it is bullying when a group picks on an individual . This can happen at school or in the workplace. (women often get picked on)
This is not an easy subject. Do you have any experiences to relate? thanks

I think that's encouragingly low, to be honest. 176 in 7 years is approximately 25 per year. When you think of the millions of children in the country, that's a very tiny percentage. Obviously, even one death is a tragedy for the family concerned but I don't think this statistic is reason to believe there is a widespread problem.

Under 14 years? These children shouldn't even know how to kill themselves :(

Kaloki, I agree this a shockingly high figure and tragic that so many very young children feel this is the only way out for them.

Chil I follow the news and I would have guessed about 40 deaths in that period.

Tragedy could always be higher or lower.

I wonder why they pick age 14 as the "cut off", it seems a funny place to put it.

I wonder if that is the age at which the stat makes most shocking reading IYSWIM - at younger the number is terribly terribly low, at older people are less surprised? I don't know.

I agree with chil TBH.

Also the period picked (7 years) is very strange.

i think this stat has been chosen for the most shock value IYSWIM.

ISNT- presumably over 14 could be classed as a young adult maybe?

The child suicide I knew wasn't bullied at all; she was acting out something she had seen in a (18 rated) film that her parents had allowed her to watch. She was also very unhappy with her family life.
She was 8

That's awful montmatre, just awful.

When I was studyine suicide in the young it was noted that those young people who attempt/succeed suicide have had ideation about killing themselves from the age of 6yrs....
It is not always connected to events external to the child life, these tragic phenomena are often about the child inner wolrd, a place that is hard to access for both families and professionals. Children are very smart about making out they are OK....when in fact they are planning all sorts of stuff...
The current figures I assume only indicate those who actually killed themselves. I think the numbers who tried and failed would be infinately much higher........they are not recorded in the same way, if at all.

'Near misses, was a familiar term used to describe such failed attempts.....