Mackenzie Parker Source #1

Question: What social stigmas surround suicide and how does it affect the rate of suicide among teenagers?
Mantel, Barbara. "Teen Suicide." CQ Researcher by CQ Press. CQ Researcher, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2014091200&type=hitlist&num=0>.

The article that I researched talked a lot about prevention programs that high schools are beginning to implement in their curriculum.  As this articled discussed, high school's are starting to realize that there is a stigma around suicide among teenagers and these schools are trying to make the topic not so scary to talk about in order for this who are struggling with suicidal thoughts, to begin opening up about it to trained professionals. Although this article did not tell me a lot about the social stigma, it did tell me a lot about the suicide rates and how since high schools have begin talking more about suicide prevention, they have begun to see a decrease in suicide cases in these high schools. 

This source made me consider factors such as prevention programs and if they really are working, and if they are, what is making them so successful? This was not something that i had thought prior to beginning my research and I think it is important to take into consideration because it seems that is is reducing the stigma around suicide. Within this article, the author is very informative about the rates of suicide and she also puts a lot of emphasis on how those experiencing suicidal thought need to put the stigma behind them and talk to professionals about how they are feeling. I definitely agree with this because if students are able to worry about themselves instead about what others think of them, then we could see the suicide rates decrease even more.  The author also talked about how she believes that screening every teenager in their regular check ups for suicidal thoughts and depression would be a good thing.  The authors reasoning is that many teenagers who either attempted suicide and failed or had a successful suicide saw their physicians recently.  If physicians could realize these signs sooner, then these events may not have happened. I think this would be very beneficial even though it may seem like a violation of privacy.  Just taking a simple yes or no short quiz could help physicians determine the mental health of their patients and it would have a very beneficial outcome. This is something that i did not consider even though it does not relate to my original research question because it is something that can be argued and looked at in many different perspectives. 

Some new questions that this source made me consider is taking out the social stigma part of my question and instead researching how suicide prevention may be helping to decrease rates of suicide.  This source answered a lot of questions I had such as are the suicide rates going up or down, how these rates are being affected, and whats being done about this in high schools.  I think i am in a good starting place and I am definitely reconsidering altering my question a little bit in order to better fit the kind of information I am finding throughout my research.