In just a month, there have been three reported cases of teens who took their own lives. They should have cherished their lives and looked towards the future, says a concerned STOMPer G. School and relationship problems are not the end of the world, he adds.
According to a report in The New Paper (June 13), 16-year-old Darryle Tan Wei Guan, Lim En Han and Krystal Aki Mizoguchi, both 18, fell to their deaths.
Secondary 4 Express student Darryle had been suspended from school on
March 25 for slapping a male teacher. He then took up a part-time job,
studied hard on his own and seemed to be becoming more positive.
However, barely two months after his suspension, on May 29, he took his
own life after apologising to his family on the phone.
Lim En Han
was a bright student at Hwa Chong Institution, but had been seeing a
psychiatrist and her family had withdrawn her from school in March.
According to a report in Lianhe Wanbao, it is believed that she might
have been facing relationship problems as well as difficulties with her
studies, which could have spurred her to take her own life on June 5.
Krystal
Aki Mizoguchi was a half-Japanese, half-Chinese Singaporean student at
Yishun Junior College. However, things took a turn for the worst when
the youth received her A-level results which were only good enough for
her to apply to private universities. That option "had never crossed
(her) mind", she wrote in her blog. On May 14, she fell to her death.
STOMPer G shares his views:
"After
reading the report of the three youth suicides, I felt very sad. They
had so much ahead of them -- they just needed to clear the stumbling
blocks that were in their path instead of stopping their journey through
life.
"The Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) has asked that a
suicide prevention programme be put in place in schools here. I agree.
We focus too much on grades until we forget to cater to the human
element.
"Besides, grades are not everything. Look at Facebook
co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. He's a Havard dropout, but look what he is
now? He's wealthy and successful at the age of 27.
"How about
Bill Gates? He's the world's most famous school dropout, and one of the
world's most wealthiest people. He, too, left Havard to work on his
start-up company, which is now Microsoft.
"Then you have Steve
Jobs who dropped out of Reed College just after six months because it
was a big financial burden on his working-class parents. If not for him,
we wouldn't have iPhones and iPads and other Apple products!
"So
people, don't think taking your own life is the solution to all of your
problems. Work around your problems, and you will become stronger. Seek
help if you need, there's nothing embarrassing about needing a helping
hand. We are but human.
"And most importantly, cherish your lives. You're young! You have much to live for! You have so many things to do and to see!"