Should the publicity of child suicides be advocated or not?
A growing number of child suicides have been witnessed of late, especially after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. This topic has been enormously publicized and enthusiastically discussed on social media, which provokes strong opposition from numerous people. From a personal standpoint, spreading the news about such piteous incidents has its own merits, yet several demerits should also be taken into consideration.
On the one hand, the publicity of child suicides proves beneficial to society for the following reasons. Firstly, it serves as a stern warning for adults about the pressure exerted on students from such matters as relationships or studying. To illustrate, parents coercing their children to achieve outstanding academic performance even beyond their ability will stop such extreme behaviors and pay more attention to their children’s mental health. Furthermore, adults can also propose appropriate solutions to the problems encountered by teenagers, thus avoiding triggering negative emotions for them. Secondly, reports about child suicides can help despondent youngsters themselves discard the intentions of suicide. If each report draws people to the undesirable impacts of that unwise decision such as the grief of their family and their unfinished targets, it can discourage teenagers from suicidal attempts.
On the other hand, it is also justifiable to claim a ban on the publicity of child suicides. To begin with, it can cause a domino effect, which means children after seeing others killing themselves will follow suit because they perceive it as the most optimal solution to every problem. As a matter of fact, since the death of a 16-year-old boy in Hanoi this April, a significantly increasing number of children jumping out from the balconies of high-rise buildings or from bridges into the rivers to end their lives has been recorded. Additionally, inadequate reports on social media can hurt individuals related to those pitiful incidents. For instance, when the information about a child suicide is publicized, netizens tend to heavily criticize this person for acting on impulse and wasting his parents’ effort to upbring him, or they will blame the responsibility on his parents for inflicting pressure on their offspring. In other words, outsiders prefer to attack the involved individuals rather than show sympathy for the victims, which only worsens the case. Indeed, child suicides should be kept private rather than publicized on online platforms.
In conclusion, the publicity of child suicides on social media possesses both pros and cons. In my opinion, the information about these cases should be carefully selected and written with proper wording in lieu of distorting or exaggerating the truth which can cause criticism toward involved individuals or negative effects on the community. Moreover, these pieces of writing should also include feasible measures for those thinking of suicide to reconsider their intentions and escape unwanted feelings.