After news that four pupils from Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park had died from suicide over a 10-day period, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) has revealed that suicide among schoolchildren may be a cause for concern.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, Sadag operations director Cassey Chambers said during visits to 70 schools in the past six months, all of them reported at least one suicide attempt or a suicide.
“Those figures alone are high enough and say we need to do more about this. It is a problem and we need to be addressing it in a much more proactive and dynamic way,” Chambers said.
According to TimesLIVE Premium's sister publication SowetanLIVE, two of the pupils who committed suicide from Eqinisweni school were a couple.
Thembi Lubisi, aged 18, who was a mother to a one-year-old toddler, died on April 26 after collapsing on her way home from school. Her lover, Annanias Morupeng, also aged 18, died on May 3 from suicide.
It was not immediately clear what had led to the teen's death.
Chambers, however, said in the cases they have dealt with, they have noted that teenagers are raised without support to deal with life challenges. More teenagers are also showing a lack of resilience and low self-esteem.
“There are just so many issues that our young people are dealing with and they don’t have the coping skills and the support in place. We are seeing it affecting our young people. Some are dealing with abuse, rape, gender-based violence. There are so many of these issues that can contribute to a young person who is still developing and navigating through their hormonal changes of being a teenager.”
While Sadag receives calls mostly from people aged between 18 and 35, younger teenagers have also been calling in, often feeling helpless and hopeless with thoughts of suicide.
Chambers said a combination of issues could lead to suicide attempts among teenagers,such as divorce, abuse, the loss of a loved one and cyberbullying, which has become a global issue among teenagers.
Education psychologist Dr Ken Resnick echoed Chambers' views that there was a lack of proper parenting and children growing up not properly equipped to deal with issues.
“Children are growing up with no self-esteem and no discipline and it’s a worldwide problem. We are overprotecting our children and not equipping them with life skills. What is happening today is that these children are impulsive and... it becomes part of their personality as they get older. Now we have children who want instant gratification and are bullies who aren’t taught empathy.”
He said girls seemed to be the target as they made up 75% of the suicide rate and are sometimes bullied by groups of boys.
“It’s difficult for children. They grow up with no resilience to take on all these things and they have to handle bullying and learn how not to get sucked in by peer pressure. Parents have no clue what’s going on,” he said.
While there seemed to be a trend of Gauteng teenagers attempting suicide by consuming poison, Chambers said this could be a cheap option that pupils learn about from their peers.
Last year, a grade 8 and grade 12 pupil, both from Tsakane Secondary School, died by suicide. The two girls allegedly consumed poison at their respective homes and died a day apart.
“We have seen increased reports of young people using poison ... Often when a teenager is feeling like their problems are too much and feeling helpless and hopeless, they feel suicide is the only option and they often think very spontaneously. They will find anything that is easily accessible... So this information (of poisons) is shared. I think it is cheap and so easily accessible and so many teenagers and young people are aware of it,” said Chambers.
