This essay has been written by Name of Student of Class of Student of Name of College
In the last two decades, numbers of youth committing suicide among Native Indian and Native Alaskan people have reached to an alarming level. The high rate of suicide among these communities needs government’s attention to make significant efforts in development of policies that can lead to reduction in the number of suicides. The response by the federal government has been adequate; however, it will require regular and deliberate efforts to fight out the suicide epidemic. Health care system may be rehashed in order to meet the health care requirements of these communities. The article “The tragedy of Native American Youth Suicide” is written by Senator Byron L. Dorgan. The essay attempts to analyze and summarize the article with a view to highlighting the causes of increasing number of deaths in the Native American communities.
The writer talks about the increasing epidemic of youth suicide among Native American people and urges federal policy makers and health care providers to develop an effective response to rectify the faults in the present health care system. The writer highlights that suicide rate among the Native Americans youth of 10-24 years of age is 70% higher than any other ethnic group in America. It is not only the youth that is wasted but their families suffer for the rest of their lives. The writer narrates the story of Jami Rose Jetty, a 14 years old girl from North Dakota who committed suicide due to the failure of Indian Health Service in the city. Suicide is the second biggest cause of death between the ages of 10-34 years of age group from Native Americans. The writer discusses the risk behaviors and factors for suicide in Native Americans. These factors include the family history of suicide, history of earlier suicide attempts, alcohol or drug abuse, indications of depression or mental illness, easy contact to the fatal methods, taxing life event or loss, and incarceration. These factors indicate the health and socioeconomic disparities in the Indian community. Increase in suicide and increased crime rate have been witnesses in Indian country. The lifestyle, environment and safety play a role in mental health and risk of suicide for Native American youth. Federal government has the special responsibility towards Native American community to address the tragic trend of youth suicides and related health problems in these areas. The issue of youth suicide in Indian country has been addressed by the Congress through legislation. Government has developed programs to address the issue of youth suicides. There are barriers such as non-availability of data about the mental health issue of these communities as they are dispersed over a wide area. Some tribes do not like to share their data with the government. Thus, there is a complex relationship between the Indians and federal government. The other factor is the rural nature of Indian communities as they are far away from the main cities. Another factor is the budget constraints with the health care providers for addressing the Indian community health issues. Indian communities need targeted suicide prevention programs with strong leadership and collaborative efforts and dedicated mental health professionals.
The reasons for such a high youth suicide rate among Native Americans are many and can be described one by one. The Native Americans are genetically not as strong as other American. It has been proved through a research that Native Americans over-indulgence in the alcohol since centuries have caused this weak genetics in the community. When children see their parents drinking all the times, they tend to start drinking alcohol from the early childhood. In every family, there is someone who has committed suicide which gives a lead to the children going through mental crisis. The isolation on the plantations brings further mental segregation to the youth as they do not have the facilities and opportunities as are available in the bigger cities. Isolation itself is a bigger reason to the mental illness. In developed communities children have friends, playgrounds and places to go out with the family; however, same is not available to the children living at isolated plantations. Incarceration is another cause of youth suicide in the Native Americans. Incarceration is indoctrinated in the American system that is evident in the diversity in the number of people going to the jails. Very few white Americans are sent to jail on the same charges on which African Americans or Native American would be sent to jail for a handsome period. Someone who goes to jail for minor offence, does not find his right place in the society as he stands condemned for the rest of his life. It leads to the depression that results in the suicide.
There are number of factors that result in the high rate of youth suicide among Native Americans. The efforts done so far by the government do not seem enough to stop the epidemic. Targeted suicide prevention programs in the plantations and Native Indian communities with all the required facilities must be implemented in order to ensure no more young children lose their lives.
Write a 750-word essay that summarizes and responds personally to one of these articles:
Process:
- Formulate an opinion about the issues raised in the article about troubled youth in any society. This will become your thesis statement.
- Submita source analysis on Wednesday, September 24th
Submit question 5 on a separate sheet:
Summarize the sectionof the article that is most important, in your opinion.
Include two paraphrases.
- Summarize each of the other sections.
- Put the sections together in the order of importance to you.
- Submityour DRAFT of an academic summary of the article on Friday, September26th
Essay specifications:
- An academic summary of the article, minimum 250 words.
- A conclusion that presents your response to the article, minimum 250 words. Your response elaborates on your thesis.You can pose genuine questions about specific points made by the writer(s) about the thesis focus (i.e., causes; solutions; treatment plans); recommend solutions to the social problems endured by Native American youth; compare your point of view on this issue with that of the author(s). Finally, you may compare and contrast this situation in your home country. How is teen suicide treated?
- APA reference formatand in-text citationsfor the source work and for the essay.
