Our Children: The Many Problems Faced Today

As we advance through our lives, there seems to be a growing number of problems that society must deal with as a whole. Out of the many problems, I encountered two in the world of psychology. Statistics show that the rates of suicide for children have risen over the past few years. During 2003-2004, there was an 18% increase in the number of suicides among people under 20. Is there an end in sight for tragedies that cause families devastation and grief? Another problem that has been lingering in the field of psychology is the “off label” dispute. Should children under the age of 3 be allowed to take the same mental health medication as adults do? There is no real connection between doctors and the research evidence to support clinical decisions. For this week’s post, I decided to explore the blogosphere to find out some recent topics in the psychological realm. Below are my comments on two blogs that talk about these issues.

My Reaction to: “Can a 3 Year Old Be Accurately Diagnosed?”

There is really no correlation between an adult's organism and a child’s organism in handling certain types of medicaments and medications. It is expected that any adult meets the criteria to take a certain dose of medicine, however, it is recommended that he or she prevents from participating in their regular activities because there might be side affects. A child's immune system is weaker and it can not defend itself from such side affects, therefore it is unethical to make such a comparison. Unlike an adult's body a child body is not yet fully developed. The medications intended for an adult body can affect a child’s body development and can cause a great deal of harm. Professionals should not risk patients’ lives because they have based their decisions on text. In order to make moral decision they should base their prescriptions on studies and their results. With today’s technology there is no necessity to expose anyone’s life to death. The only thing that would be left to ask is how many more children would have to die before someone puts their foot down on this situation.

My Reaction to: “Suicide Rates Rise for Children”

Suicide is a problem that should be addressed in the school system. As the government cuts down education funds, the only ones getting affected by this are the children. The schools should implement better programs that help children with any problems they are having. Teachers should also receive training in dealing with serious issues such as suicide. School officials should make the children feel comfortable by showing trust and letting them know that it is ok to talk about any trouble they are having or what not. In some cases children feel safer trusting people outside of their family with their problems because they either have no one they can go to or the problem is found within the family. There are numerous amounts of children who have abusive family members and they feel embarrassed to tell anyone in the family what is occurring because they are afraid this person will not believe them. There needs to be more concern over suicide and more help needs to be available to reassure students that there are bumps in life but they can be conquered.