Reading Week has been a regular part of a student’s life for as long as we can remember.
Many of us remember in high school having a week off in February, also known as spring break. Not many people knew that Reading Week was actually meant as a means of suicide prevention.
Studies have shown that about one million people, worldwide, die every year because of suicide. About 3,600 of that million are Canadian.
Only a month and a half into the semester after Christmas break, students are already getting stressed to the max, causing some to take their lives.
About 500 Canadians who commit suicide are between 15-24 years old.
In the last decade youth suicide rates have decreased but are higher than the rates in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia.
Stats Canada shows that suicides among men are about three to five times more common and suicide attempts are about twice as common among females.
Suicides are taking more lives in Alberta each year than motor vehicle collisions. The number of suicides each year is more than 400 and 2,000 Albertans are hospitalized every year for self-inflicted injuries.
There is a World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10 each year. Its purpose is to raise awareness of suicide and provide ways to help someone suffering with depression and thoughts of suicide in your community. This year’s theme is “Building Suicide- Safer Communities.”
In 2006 the House of Commons passed a motion in support of a national suicide prevention strategy. The house agreed that suicide is more than a personal tragedy; it is also a serious public health issue.
People need to become aware of the seriousness of suicides in our province. Sometimes too many things can go unnoticed.
Every year our communities and the government work together to provide suicide awareness and support to people with suicidal thoughts.
It’s our job to take what we learn from these events and apply it to our every day life. We need to focus on making the suicide numbers go down in our community.