Many of you have read or heard about the young boy who suicided in Nunavut. It is such a tragedy that is becoming more and more prevalent. This boy's death stays in my mind and I think abut him now and then. I have to stop and pray for his spirit and pray for strength for his family and their community. I don't know them but I care. It is indeed becoming an "epidemic" across Canada.
"The suicide of an 11-year-old boy in Nunavut has renewed calls for the territory to do more to address the epidemic.
"The silence is deafening," Jack Anawak, former MP and Nunavut justice minister, told the Nunatsiaq News. "It's time people started saying: 'Let's talk about it,' rather than saying: 'If we don't talk about it, it will go away.'"
Piita Irniq, a former Northwest Territories MLA and Nunavut's first commissioner, echoed Anawak's statement, telling the paper: "We need to get our people and especially our Inuit leaders to start talking about it."
Mark Buell, former spokesman for the National Aboriginal Health Organization, said on Twitter that Canadians should be outraged.
"We are a nation with a limited ability for compassion. Indifference to children killing themselves is the worst thing I can imagine," he wrote.
According to Nunatsiaq News, a boy in Repulse Bay recently committed suicide just after his 11th birthday. The paper did not give further details about the death.
According to Statistics Canada, suicide is the second leading cause of death in people ages 15 to 32. And that problem is magnified in Nunavut, where the suicide rate is 56.9 per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 11.5.
A McGill University study released in June found that child abuse, substance abuse and mental distress in Nunavut create big risk factors for suicides.
The Government of Nunavut defended its response to the problem after a spate of suicides in Pangnirtung last May, noting that it has doubled its mental-health resources since 2003."
This year Suicide Awareness Week falls on September 8-14, 2013. Communities host some kind of awareness presentations or acknowledge the losses in their communities.
The Centre for Suicide Prevention based in Calgary, ALberta is offering some free training during that week and acknowledging "World Suicide Prevention Day" on September 10, 2013.
I have added a link button at the top of this blog that you can check what activities are being done nationally or activities you could choose to do personally to acknowledge that day.
"The suicide of an 11-year-old boy in Nunavut has renewed calls for the territory to do more to address the epidemic.
"The silence is deafening," Jack Anawak, former MP and Nunavut justice minister, told the Nunatsiaq News. "It's time people started saying: 'Let's talk about it,' rather than saying: 'If we don't talk about it, it will go away.'"
Piita Irniq, a former Northwest Territories MLA and Nunavut's first commissioner, echoed Anawak's statement, telling the paper: "We need to get our people and especially our Inuit leaders to start talking about it."
Mark Buell, former spokesman for the National Aboriginal Health Organization, said on Twitter that Canadians should be outraged.
"We are a nation with a limited ability for compassion. Indifference to children killing themselves is the worst thing I can imagine," he wrote.
According to Nunatsiaq News, a boy in Repulse Bay recently committed suicide just after his 11th birthday. The paper did not give further details about the death.
According to Statistics Canada, suicide is the second leading cause of death in people ages 15 to 32. And that problem is magnified in Nunavut, where the suicide rate is 56.9 per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 11.5.
A McGill University study released in June found that child abuse, substance abuse and mental distress in Nunavut create big risk factors for suicides.
The Government of Nunavut defended its response to the problem after a spate of suicides in Pangnirtung last May, noting that it has doubled its mental-health resources since 2003."
This year Suicide Awareness Week falls on September 8-14, 2013. Communities host some kind of awareness presentations or acknowledge the losses in their communities.
The Centre for Suicide Prevention based in Calgary, ALberta is offering some free training during that week and acknowledging "World Suicide Prevention Day" on September 10, 2013.
I have added a link button at the top of this blog that you can check what activities are being done nationally or activities you could choose to do personally to acknowledge that day.
The least that we, as parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, can do is talk to our family. Talk to our children about suicide but also build some protective factors. We are their educators too, we talk to them about alcohol, drugs, sex education, HIV and std's, we need to add suicide prevention to the list. Our children need to know and sincerely believe that they are loved. Tell them you love them, tell them they are special. Tell them what they mean to you. That's the foundation for their future.
Here's a song by Josh Groban that speaks to me about Suicide Prevention. The lyrics are below the video.
Thank you for listening. Hiy Hiy
Here's a song by Josh Groban that speaks to me about Suicide Prevention. The lyrics are below the video.
Thank you for listening. Hiy Hiy
Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
When your heart's heavy
I, I will lift it for you
Don't give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I, I will break it for you
Everybody wants to be understood
Well, I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up because you are loved
Don't give up
It's just the hurt that you hide
When you're lost inside
I, I'll be there to find you
Don't give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I, I will shine to guide you
Everybody wants to be understood
Well, I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up because you are loved
(You are loved)
You are loved
(You are loved)
Don't give up
(Don't give up)
It's just the weight of the world
(You are loved)
Don't give up
(Don't give up)
Everyone needs to be loved
(Don't give up)
You are loved
(You are loved)
(Don't give up)
It's just the weight of the world
When your heart's heavy
I, I will lift it for you
Don't give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I, I will break it for you
Everybody wants to be understood
Well, I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up because you are loved
Don't give up
It's just the hurt that you hide
When you're lost inside
I, I'll be there to find you
Don't give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I, I will shine to guide you
Everybody wants to be understood
Well, I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up because you are loved
(You are loved)
You are loved
(You are loved)
Don't give up
(Don't give up)
It's just the weight of the world
(You are loved)
Don't give up
(Don't give up)
Everyone needs to be loved
(Don't give up)
You are loved
(You are loved)
(Don't give up)
RSS Feed
