Dear Editor,<\/p>\n
I am writing to express my views on an article I read recently. The title was \u2018After spate of suicides, we should all act as\u00a0digital Samaritans\u2019.<\/p>\n
The article used the fact that over half of the students committing suicide in Hong Kong had indicated suicidal thoughts\u00a0on social media before they took their own lives as a premise to convince readers to act as \u2018digital Samaritans\u2019. They\u00a0would actively look out for friends who needed assistance and raise awareness among other Internet users to do the same.\u00a0The author believed that these methods would effectively curb the number of student suicides.<\/p>\n
I agree with the author. In this digital age, the influence of the Internet is everywhere, and social networks like Facebook\u00a0have replaced telephones as the means of communication between different people, particularly students. Thus, the impact\u00a0of social media on teens is significant. For this reason, social media can act both as a reinforcement or hindrance to\u00a0suicidal teens. In terms of reinforcing, cyber-bullying is extremely common nowadays, with people posting malicious\u00a0comments online to belittle someone they do not like. When the suicidal teens read the hateful comments directed at them,\u00a0they will feel strongly that nobody in the world appreciates their existence, and they are therefore unworthy of living. This\u00a0will reinforce their notions and determination in taking their own lives. However, the flip side of this coin would be\u00a0hindrance. If people start posting encouraging instead of nasty comments, the suicidal teens might feel a flicker of hope on\u00a0how the world actually perceives them. They might believe that they are in fact valued by someone else, and they are not\u00a0alone in this world. Sometimes all that stance between whether or not a suicidal teenager would really take his own life is\u00a0a simple statement from another party. If that statement is positive, the teen might not commit suicide. Therefore, it is\u00a0necessary for online users to become digital Samaritans.<\/p>\n
Regarding the solution to teenage suicide, I personally think that family support is extremely important as well. Family\u00a0members are the closest relations people have on earth, and the lack of family recognition might also contribute to the\u00a0suicidal mentality of certain teens. As teenagers go through puberty, they try very hard to discover their own potentials in\u00a0order to find their place in society and fit in. This particular trait can be the reason to why teenagers pay so much attention\u00a0to others\u2019 perceptions of them. They seek recognition to affirm their position among the people surrounding them and in\u00a0society. Therefore, when the individuals closest to them do not give them the praise they desire, they might easily have the\u00a0misconception that they are worthless. So, it is essential that the teenagers\u2019 families actively show support and affection\u00a0towards them. When they feel loved and treasured, it will be much easier for them to step out of their shadows and not fall\u00a0prey to their doubts.<\/p>\n
There are certainly many ways to tackle students\u2019 suicide, but from my point of view, the best way to heal a heart is\u00a0through love and support, and the role of family is crucial.<\/p>\n
Yours faithfully,<\/p>\n
Chris Wong<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dear EditorI am writing to express my views on an article I read recently. The title was \u2018After spate of suicides, we should all act as\u00a0digital Samaritans\u2019.The article used the fact that over half of the students committing suicide in Hong Kong had indicated suicidal thoughts\u00a0on social media before.........Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-s5","schoolyear-48"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5526"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5546,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions\/5546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}