CHAPTER 42: RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE

Pictures like this that are found on the internet, enables media to make suicide a glamourous issue. As the quotation under the word suicide states; "Because the world is better off without you". Teens who are vulnerable to suicide might see this photo with the quote and decide, "Ya, you see, the world can be a better place with me". Then bang as quickly as they have seen this photo, they have ended their lives. I believe that media has a very strong role to play in terms of teens ending their lives through suicide.

What does the typical school shooter look like? Take a look a this picture and you will see. Usually they are white, teen men. Why are they killing others and then themselves? Self-esteem plays an important role, but so too do issues like; "School never really addresses anything that I am interested in" or "Everyone one at school thinks I am a loser, so I will show them what kind of loser I really am". School shooters have many issues. Quite often we never really find out why someone would kill their classmates and then turn the gun on themselves. However, it has been suggested that these teens have problems that stem farther back then school and coupled with the difficulties that they often experience in school turns them into this

mass-murder.

Our lecture on March 16th on Chapter 42: Raging Against the Machine addressed a very important issue in our society today and that is suicide, but more importantly teen suicide. Some of the questions that we discussed in class were; "Describe your typical suicide victim, Describe your typical school shooter, and Why are teens killing themselves?" Teens unfortunately kill themselves and others for a who host of reasons however, some of these are:

• Stereotypes (LGBT, race, sex)
• Consumption
• Suicide is cool
• Educational models

I believe that society as a whole needs to address this very sensitive issue and help teens to forget about these thoughts. As a future educator I need to be sensitive to each and everyone of my students needs. In doing so, we help to model a new generation that feels good about themselves, regardless of stereotypes, and role models that are in their lives.