4,400.

According to bullystatistics.org, that is the number of suicides in just one year among young people. What is the reason for all of these suicides? Bullying. Of course, it is tragic to hear about anyone killing themselves, but as the year goes on there has been a disturbingly large number of suicides in children. Some of the most recent cases include an eleven, thirteen, and nine-year-old. Like many, you are probably thinking to yourself, why would a child do such a thing? Can bullying really be that bad for a child that they feel like they have nothing to live for?

Many have noticed that suicide among children is an unfortunate trend that has been happening more and more over the last few years. Children committing suicide was something that would be seen as rare twenty or thirty years ago, so why does it seem to be something that is so prevalent in the present day? There are many problems that have seemed to play a part in why suicide has increased in children, starting with...

Social Media.

While many adults can admit they have been victims of bullying, not many adults can admit that they have been victims of bullying at school, then victims of cyberbullying. Imagine being a child in middle school in this day and age where kids are at their worst with insults, picking on children so they feel better about their own insecurities. This was something that may have been tolerable years ago, because at least then you had a home to go to escape the bullying. But what happens now when you get to go home just to see you have Facebook messages or comments that are just more insults about yourself? To ask an eleven, twelve, or thirteen-year-old child to deal with that is unacceptable. While social media has opened doors in many positive ways, this is one major flaw it contains. Social media gives bullies access to their victims 24/7, and you can only imagine the damage it causes for the victims.

Home life.

It's bad enough that children have to worry about getting bullied at school, then coming home to get bullied online. You can imagine how low a child's self-esteem is from dealing with all of that mental and emotional abuse. Now imagine a child dealing with all of those issues, and having to deal with a stressful home life? Many of us are blessed to come to home every day with a loving parent or parents, have food for the night, and do family activities. Sadly, there are just as many people who do not have that luxury. The amount of stress and sadness a child must feel if they are being bullied constantly by their peers is enough to make a child go crazy. But to add the stress on the child of feeling like they aren't loved at home, or for a child to have to go to a home where they are not only mentally and emotionally abused, but possibly physically abused...it is unfathomable to think a child could be put through so much abuse.

School Environment.

When a child is being bullied at school, who do we expect them to talk to? The teachers, the principal, the counselors. Any adult that is supposed to be there to help. What happens when these adults in the school do not want to get involved? Who is the child supposed to go to then? While this may seem like it would never happen, it happens more often than people think. An eleven-year-old girl named Bethany Thompson recently killed herself. The child killed herself due to being bullied because of the way her smile looked. When Thompson was three, she was diagnosed with cancer. While she survived the cancer, there was nerve damage that took place, and changed the way her smile looked. According to CNN, Thompson's middle school was aware of the bullying problem. However, on Thompson's last day of school, she went to the school administration and pitched an idea to put up signs around the school that said, "Buddies, not bullies." to promote the end of bullying. The school denied her idea. For a school to know how badly this girl was getting bullied and to not help her at all, there should be some serious investigation in the school administration. Bethany Thompson came to these people with a wonderful idea that honestly could've been a great coping skill for herself, and for the school to just shut it down so abruptly is shameful. What do we expect a child to do when the people they look up to the most will not help them?

Children make mistakes, we all know this. But is that a valid excuse for why children are committing suicide? Absolutely not. While children may not know how badly words can hurt someone, as adults it is our responsibility to make sure we stop bullying before it gets to the point of a child taking their life because of it. Parents should be monitoring their children's social media at that young of an age. Families should be going out of their way to let their children know that they are loved. Schools most definitely should be getting involved and promoting ideas to end bullying.

No child should feel like they have to end their life because they feel like there is no way out. There is always a way, and it is our responsibility to show children that they are not alone.