In my local community, four kids have been killed in automobile accidents in the past three years. What scares me is that I’m at the age where my friends and I are all learning to drive, and quite frankly, the fact that all these kids have died scares me. I’m afraid to get behind the wheel. Everyone always thinks that it won’t be them and it won’t be someone they know or care about. But you don’t truly know that.

The reason I bring this up is that I’ve heard another scary cause of death being mentioned often in my own high school. That cause would be suicide. Many people probably think about it at least once. They’ve had a bad day, or they’re currently battling a rough patch in their lives. And sometimes when people feel alone, they wonder if people would care if they were to kill themselves. I’m pretty sure that’s normal, but after that there is a barrier dividing this group of people into two groups. One group thinks, “No, that’s silly. Of course people love me. I’ll get through this.” And then there’s the other group that continues their thinking. “How should I do it?” and “Will I do it?” And sometimes even, “I’m going to do it.” Sadly, some do.

The thing that bothers me about those people is that they don’t realize the extent of the consequences following their act. In my opinion, suicide is a selfish thing to carry out. Those people that kill themselves often don’t realize that there really ARE people out there who care, and help is available. But all these people can think of is how miserable they are, and that makes me mad.

Before you decide that I’m a horrible person, just hear me out. Let’s think back to those four kids I mentioned above. They probably had dreams. They had families and friends and pets. They had people they cared about. These kids and the people who lost them would probably give anything to have their lives back. Meanwhile, there are these other people who choose to commit suicide and throw their lives away. They’re taking their gift of life for granted. They could do something with their lives. But they simply choose not to, and it’s not fair.

You can’t really tell me the excuse that sometimes Depression is too much to handle and that THAT’S why people do it. You can’t tell me that, because I’ve been depressed. I know what it’s like to cry all night and to write morbid poetry. My heart has been broken and I’ve spent countless days crying in my room. But I made myself stay strong. I could never put the people who love me in that kind of pain. I couldn’t do it, and I don’t know how other people could.