There is a disturbing report based upon new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finding a youth crisis that has not received much attention lately. Between 2007 and 2015 the rate of suicide among teen girls has doubled. The suicide rate for teen girls is now at a 40-year high. From 2007 to 2015 the suicide rate for teen boys has climbed 30%.
CDC suicide expert Thomas Simon told CNN, “We know that overall in the U.S., we’re seeing increases in suicide rates across all age groups,” he said, adding that the climb is “pretty robust.” It’s unlikely there’s any one factor to explain this increase,” Simon claimed.
Simon went on to speculate that suicide has a lot to do with a poor economy in recent years. He also mentioned problems with substance abuse increasing suicide. These are probably true, but I have to wonder how much our culture contributes to suicide when it devalues life in so many ways, and it scoffs at our Christian heritage and mocks religion, particularly Christianity, which offers answers to life’s toughest questions, hope, and an eternal perspective.
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