Dear Editor,
I write especially to parents with respect to September 10th, 2019 being World Suicide Prevention Day.
Parents, you may provide a comfortable life for your children but I urge you – check in with your children, talk to them. You may be of the belief that your children have nothing to worry about but peer pressure is real, you might be unaware of your children’s insecurities about themselves, you won’t always know what’s going on at a personal level with them.
In today’s world with the advancement of technology, children have access to smartphones or tablets, most are on social media without parental supervision. Who is to say our children aren’t preys to predators? Who’s to say that they may at any time be asked to do something they weren’t comfortable with but upon refusal are blocked, deleted or unfriended by someone they thought had a genuine interest in them? Do you know how your children will react to such treatment? What may seem like trivial to you and I might be considered heartbreak for your children.
In the glitz and glamour that’s the high life of Instagram how are you certain that your daughters do not feel unworthy or ugly because they do not have flawless skins or clear complexions? Or that your sons feel like less of a male because they are not buffed? Growing up is very hard as they try to find themselves. Thoughts of not being good enough, pretty enough, strong enough can consume young minds.
Talk to your children, suicide prevention begins at home with you; with your children having a level of comfort they have with no one else. Parents are the first mentors, give your children the chance to be open with you without your judging or belittling them.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
