Burchett 1

Alanna Burchett

ENG 1201

Mrs.Blouch

28 March 2020

The Negative Effect that Online Media has on the Teen Suicide Rate

Online Media is a new creation when compared to centuries of traditional media. Due to this,

teenagers nowadays are treading in new waters. The effects of a constant connection to media

through phones and television have unknown effects to the human psyche. However, online

media has been linked to an increased rate of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. While

this might correlate between newfound pressure put upon teens, this could also correlate to the

digital influence being more bad than good. Through multiple studies it has been seen that the

correlation between the use of online medias and a rise of the suicide rate in recent years have a

startling connection. Due to these findings, media should be limited for teens due to its negative

impact on them and on the impact that it has on the teen suicide rate.

Media are communication tools that can both share and store, ideas, opinions, and stories. It

can be both found physically (theatre, books, traditional art) or digitally (television, e-books,

digital art). Media plays a large part in society as it allows for individuals to share their thoughts

and opinions through various mediums. Ancient ideas that used to be handed down orally were

much more reliably handed down physically, such as written texts and art. This has allowed for

positive achievements and advancements to spread further and farther. Allowing for

advancements of human connections as they were further able to understand one another by
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looking through the eyes of their creations, much like how archaeologists can look at cave

drawings in order to figure out the thoughts and focuses of people thousands of years ago. People

were able to gather together despite socioeconomic differences in order to watch a play. This is

furthered by online media being very widespread, allowing for more people to have access to

information that used to be gatekept by the wealthy and the white. People are now able to

connect all over the world through a bevy of technological devices. And while the media overall

serves to connect people, this can also result in negative connections made through it.

Media can cause a negative impact through it glorifying crime, suicide, and drug use.

Physical media that can cause these negative impacts are often banned due to their consequences.

And while that could be seen as a possible solution to the problem by banning problematic

content, online media prevents widespread rules due to its billions of users and the massive

amount of content that cannot be possible viewed. The people most impacted by this are

teenagers, due to their increased connection to the internet and the content that it has. And with

handheld digital devices becoming more widespread and since “the rate [of smartphone

ownership]in the US increased from 35% in 2011 to 64% in 2015” (Kim), the threat of negative

media has become more of a prevalent issue.

Due to this increased issue, media that is put online should be held to the same standards that

regulate physical media in order to create a healthier space for everyone on the internet. This

idea is in place for certain websites, such as how many social media sites remove and ban users

after posting content that goes against their guidelines. In 2019, Instagram and Facebook started

“blurring graphic images of self-harm and adding warnings to such posts” ("Teen Suicide.").

Youtube also censers content that is deemed age restricted, meaning that your account has to be
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over 18 to view said video. This idea is also not supported by websites that are not owned by

large corporations. An implementation of an internet content screening system would allow for

this negative content to still remain, allowing for people to express themselves openly, but it

would help prevent the negative consequences to young or triggerable viewers.

Suicide is an attempt of someone trying to take their own life. Suicidal thoughts often

develop from stressors, such as stress, mental illness, lack of social support, and difficult living

situations. These conditions can all occur or none can occur, making suicide highly

unpredictable. But certain signs can be seen in a person suffering with suicidal thoughts. This

can be reduced social interaction, sleepiness, moodswings, and the donation of personal items.

While these are common symptoms, they can vary heavily from person to person. Sometimes

these symptoms can come and go, or be constant and possibly continue for a person's entire

lifetime. Common treatments for suicidal thoughts are antidepressants and therapy. Suicide

caused “2,491 deaths in 2017” (“Teen Suicide”), and is a growing issue among teens.

Suicide has affected teens heavily, “people ages 15 to 19 are two to four times more prone to

suicide contagion than people in other age groups” (Kutner) due to the heavy formation of social

connections. These social connections cause teens to be more susceptible to peer pressure, or the

pressure caused by a group of people attempting to convince someone that doing something will

allow them a reward. This peer pressure can cause teens to take actions that they wouldn’t

normally take on their own. This peer pressure while being known to occur physically, can also

occur to an even greater scale online. Online peer pressure can result in teens falling prey to a

certain type of belief that is produced by a group of their peers. And while peer preasure, online

and physically can result in suicide or suicide pacts, peer pressure mixed with the viralness of the
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internet results in suicide clusters, or clusters where a rapid number of suicide occurs. While this

only used to be seen in physical proximity, it is now being transmited through the internet, and

through medias that depict and glorify suicide.

The netflix show “13 Reasons Why”, is a great example of a sucide cluster as it produced a

“13% increase in suicide among children and teens, ages 10 to 19, [occurring] in the three

months after the show's release” ("Suicide uptick occurred among teens and tweens following '13

Reasons Why,' study says."). This cluster was not contained by the proximity of the first suicide

and was much more easily “transmitted” through the internet, and was therefore much harder to

predict and counter act. Teen suicides often result in a boost of the schools treatment programs,

which is used as a preventitive measure against the formation of suicide clusters, but as it was

impossible to predict what teen would view the show and be effected by it, it was ismpossible for

schools to know where these suicides would strike. This then created an unstoppable super

cluster that could range all across the country due to the production of one show. What makes

this show so dangarous is that is depicted suicide through rose colored glasses, in which the main

characters death results in the righting of wrongs and the punishment of her punishers. The show

displayed the character who had killed herself as a martyr for the rest of the school, allowing for

the school to remember and idolize her through her suicide. This idea struck many teens already

struggling with suicidal thoughts, and encouraged them to not seek help, but to kill themselves.

And although this show created this uptick in the suicide rate, this show faced no concequences

for this and continued to have two more seasons produced.

“13 Reasons Why” should have never seen the light of day after this massive event occured,

and should have done something to help prevent or deter the massive negative impact it held
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over teens. The show now has a disclaimer on it and lists some online and telephone sources in

which a child facing these issues can receive help, but this too doesn’t fix the problem of the type

of information they are showing. And while this is the only television show that has prompted

this massive response, doesn’t mean that these sorts of shows should be continued to be

produced simply because they get a lot of viewership. The focus of media producers should not

be focused on the money they receive from the product, but from the effect the product has on

people. This kind of outlook has caused many shows to be made simply because their topic is

controversial and will start a conversation, even if it is a negative one.

Fig. 1. Suicide sits as the second leading cause for adolescent deaths due to the release of “13

Reason Why” in 2017. “Ten Leading Causes of Death among Adolescents (Ages 13–19) in the

United States, by Gender, 2017.”

Suicide clusters, as mentioned earlier, effect teens more due to their massive social

connections, but with the use of social media, these connections are not limited by physical space

and can extend over continents. Even emotions can become viral infections over the internet due

to teens desire to conform to their peers, even if their conformation leads to severe health risks.

Some studies show that teens “who are susceptible to social exclusion, bully victimization and

substance abuse may utilize the Internet as a coping mechanism in an attempt to relieve stress”

(Carli) which causes them to be effected heavily by “cyber-bullying, pathological Internet use,

pro-suicide websites, facilitation of suicide pacts, and expedition of suicide methods” (Carli).

This is further expounded by search engines prompting pro-suicide websites in the top of their

search engine.

Websites, chat boards, and message rooms online often prompt the creation of “suicide

pacts”, which are the plans of a group to all commit suicide together. Which is the opposite of

what suicide prevention should look like. Often the teens who are reaching out for help stumble

upon these websites that encourage them in the complete opposite direction. While there are also

prevention sights for suicide that come up when you use a search engine, they often are

stigmatized by the teen population. Teens rely much more on their social groups than on any

corporation that asks for you to reach out to them if you are suffering from suicidal thoughts or

depression. Therapy is often stigmatised by teens and can result in the teen in question becoming

a social outcast. Schools are attempting to remove this stigma, but have been fairly unsuccessful.

This stigma around finding outside help results in a feedback loop where the teen in question

talks to their group of friends about their feelings, resulting in their friends adopting those

feelings resulting in them talking to their friends and so on and so forth.

An argument against the negativeness of online media is that it provides an outlet for teens

who need to express their feelings to adults or people who have gone through similar things. And

while it is true that online, there are many support groups that can form a healthy network of

support. There are also a lot of online therapists that can be called and messaged at any point

along with school therapists and school officials that are willing to help, And while that seems

fine in theory, many of these helpful tools fall flat when put in practice.

Online support groups are easy to form, but difficult to remain unless held together by a

medical professional. Groups of teens, especially those suffering from mental illness and suicidal

thoughts are known to suffer from lack of motivation and to separate themselves from their

support groups and people they rely on. This can result in teens becoming withdrawn from

friends and families and even support groups, which would make it difficult for any group to

maintain functionality without disintegrating due to individual symptoms. This group could also

become dangerous when left to their own devices without a medical practitioner acting as a

referee. As mentioned in the previous section, feedback loops are a dangerous thing within

groups of teenangers which could cause even the most well meaning group of individuals to

spiral downward. Teens already struggling could be discouraged by one of their members

returning to suicidal thoughts or actions. It could be very dangerous for a group of struggling

teens to gather together online, even if their intentions are good.

Online therapists and school officials advertise their assistance , but often do little to no good

in terms of suicide pervention. Partially because of the stigma behind receiving help and partially

because of their ineffectiveness. Online therapists often have certain requirements that you have

to meet before they offer their services, and many teens who require their help would not meet
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these requirements that are in place. These requirements are focused around if the individual has

a detailed suicide plan or intention to hurt others, which teens often don’t have when it comes to

suicide. Even then a hotline is only in place to dirrect individuals away from immedite suicide

and towards a therapist when neccisary, which is stigmatised. School officials are often in place

and advertised as a supporting figure, but they are often out of touch or unhelpful to many

students, and even if they were to give out help, it would be mainly directions to go see a

professional therapist.

Through this it can be seen that while there are resources laid in place in order to help

struggling teens these methods are not usually useful when it comes to defending teens from

suicide and the negative aspects of the internet though media they consume. And while these

methods have good intentions they are not combating the issue at its roots and only treating the

problems that arise from it. In order to truly prevent these issues, online media should be

censoured in some part due to the negative impact that media can have on teens and on their

suicide rate.

In conclusion, online media is dangerous to teens due to its unregulated nature and its

negative influence on them. Media can result is suicide clusters, and suicide pacts. The online

nature of everything now a days can cause super suicide clusters simular to the “13 Reason

Why” one. It is also hard for teens to feel that they can find support through online means, even

when it is advertised. It can be near impossible for the millions of suffering teens to be properly

cared for even when they are fighting against the century long stigma around suicide. The

internet can also produce dangerous pro-suicide websites that can further push struggling teens to

commit suicide. With the growing nature of the internet it seems impossible to regulate, but due
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to the dire nature of the teen population, it's a crucial time for the internet to become a less

dangerous place.
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Works Cited

Carli, Vladimir, et al. "Internet Use Affects Teen Suicide Risk in Positive and Negative Ways." ​Teen

Suicide,​ edited by Christine Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. ​Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints​,

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IC&xid=d74b8f5f. Accessed 29 Mar. 2020. Originally published as "Internet Pathways in

Suicidality: A Review of the Evidence," ​International Journal of Environmental Research and

Public Health​, 11 Oct. 2011.

Kim, Min-Hyuk, et al. "Association between high adolescent smartphone use and academic

impairment, conflicts with family members or friends, and suicide attempts." ​PLoS ONE,​ vol. 14,

no. 7, 2019, p. e0219831. ​Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A593404488/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVI

C&xid=c8e6ad9c. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020.

Kutner, Max. "Teen Suicide Is Contagious, and the Problem May Be Worse Than We Thought;

More than two dozen kids in and around Colorado Springs, Colorado, have killed themselves in

less than two years. The main reason: Another kid did it first." ​Newsweek,​ vol. 167, no. 16, 28

Oct. 2016. ​Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A467695679/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVI

C&xid=c321bf66. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020.

"Suicide uptick occurred among teens and tweens following '13 Reasons Why,' study says." ​CNN

Wire,​ 29 May 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,​

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A587036479/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVI

C&xid=9b5f727c. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020.

"Teen Suicide." ​Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2019. ​Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints​,

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/PC3010999307/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=O

VIC&xid=179cdc8a. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020.

"Ten Leading Causes of Death among Adolescents (Ages 13–19) in the United States, by Gender,

2017." ​Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection,​ Gale, 2019. ​Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints,​

https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/CALYSA890730106/OVIC?u=dayt30401&si

d=OVIC&xid=93a10478. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.