hsc related suicides, iv heard about 20 this year (1 Viewer)

[sayuru]

the pressure's not that big compared to the amount kids our age get in asian countries.

its good know that people are aware of the suicide rate related to the hsc, but one thing i would like to point out

if u say that the pressure and stress in asian countries is much worse and kids have it alot harder there than here, it does mean that it is right. perhaps the system there creates more suicides here. just because something is a global trend does not mean it is beneficial, look at slavery the whole world adopted slavery yet it took a few centuries to realize how wrong it was. i believe teh same thing is happening now, except more so with competition, shudnt mankind be striving to make life easier for each other, rather than see who can make the most money.

and i agree with almost everyone here, the hsc does put alot of pressure on ppl, more so for certain ppl, and yes we are at an unstable age where we just need some time to figure things out.

i just wish the government woudl acknowledgethe suicide rate and perhaps do something about it, the suicide rate however does not reflect the number of ppl who consider suicide during their final year of school, im sure this number goes up into the thousands.

 

[sayuru]

oops meant to say, "doesnt mean that it is right" as in the huge stress factor thing, just because its more in other coutnires doesnt make it alrite

 

[lukebennett]

i wouldnt say that people who suicide are weak. you dont know how many things they have to deal with. i personally find it stressful but i cope fine. but i have a huge amount of support from my parents. if you have had it drilled into you by your family all your life that you are only worth your uai, i wouldnt be surprised that suicide is this high. i know some terribly harsh parents like this. you get trained from a young age to believe it is the be all and end all. families have conditional love based on success!!!!

People like username must understand that being told that "it does not define you and that you are being stupid for stressing this much" . you are being really superficial. you cant just change your mentality by being told by a few people that the HSC is not that important. Some peoples parents make their kids feel trapped by the need to succeed. try and understand that some people find that this is the only way out

 

[hipsta_jess]

not sure if this has been said (can't be stuffed reading), but it will get a lot worse once the marks/UAI's/uni offerings come out.

 

[somborac]

HSC in Australia is harder then what they have in America and Europe. Overthere it doesnt all (50%) fall onto one final exam, its spread out, and there is less pressure on students. cheers.

 

[iamsickofyear12]

Two things, if you cant handle the stress of the hsc then you shouldn't be alive, as harsh as that may sound. It really isn't stressful, all you have to do is realise that it is not the end of the world, also the fact that if you stress out for this, when you manage a business goodluck because times it by 100. As for the second pt, the two people that have committed suicide this year that i no of, did so because they were bi polar and not because of the hsc.

Thats exactly right. The HSC isn't that stressful. If you can't deal with the HSC how can you deal with life?
Secondly, how else is everyone throughout the entire state going to be fairly and evenly marked if there is no HSC?

 

[miranda]

I dont think you can compare our system to any others (ie. Asia). Especially cos the cultural and social climate of our countries are so vastly different.
Different people are able to withstand different amounts of stress. Just because one person can handle the HSC well and one cannot does not mean that person who can't is weak. Just has different capabilities in handling stress.
I think it's very valid to say that the HSC should be changed - i agree. It places far too much unecessary pressure on teenagers who are already undergoing immense change in their lives.
I agree with smegthehead in that 1 suicide related to the pressures of the hsc is too much. Often, of course, the the HSC is just one of many stressors that can cause a person to end their life.
Username - i dunno, you're entitled to your opinion, but remember that some people clearly aren't as able to handle the stress of the hsc and whatever else is happening in their lives.
I only know of one hsc-related suicide, a girl on the north shore i went to school with.
I dont know anything about the relevance of people having bipolar but remember bipolar is rarely diagnosed in teens and when it is, it is often a mis-diagnosis.
It's nice to know that the gov't is attempting - somewhat pfft - to counter the increasing rate of youth suicide...actually that's a lie. It's more non-government institutions that are acting to raise awareness of youth suicide...

Anyway i've had my rant.

 

[lukebennett]

Thats exactly right. The HSC isn't that stressful. If you can't deal with the HSC how can you deal with life?
Secondly, how else is everyone throughout the entire state going to be fairly and evenly marked if there is no HSC?

i do agree in a sense but some of you sound like you have no compassion at all. have abny of you thought that your lives are completely different to other peoples and thats because of how you are raised. many families train their children to be so performance oriented as i said before. they are taught that they are worth their uai. if they are not achieving imagine how they would be feeling. its not because they are weak that they suicide. its a feeling of not being loved and that they are worthless. i dont think it is totally the stress related to the HSC. it is about their level of worth alround.

alot of you dont believe the HSC is worth all the stress, but many of you are probably told by your parents to do your best and that they love you regardless of your uai. You therefore dont believe it is worth the stress or suicide.

HSC is nt real life and if you cant deal with the HSC there are some problems but the HSC is seen by some as the way they can start a life. many people cope much better in the outside world than they do in the HSC. The fact that the HSC is not the real world means that people can cope.

the real world is not academic in many cases and this allows peole to cope with lifew like anyone else (it is academic at uni though, but not everyone goes to uni). it is about hard work to survive. it is not about one small little number that appears on a piece of paper called the uai. lots of people that cope with the HSC can not cope with the real world at all

 

[anti]

How about, 'we moderators at BoS support you'?

On a more serious note, I had no idea the number was so high. The HSC is most certainly not the end of the world, but I think a lot of people see it as the most important thing 'right now'. Also fear of stigma probably makes them think twice about asking for help - or possibly not having anybody to turn to at all.

Despite what you say though, I believe that having any kind of examination from which uni courses are decided is guaranteed to stress "enough" people out to commit suicide. The availability of fee-based courses, conditional entry, other entry courses (inSearch at UTS comes to mind) and there are fee-supported colleges out there as well. There ARE other routes into tertiary education even if they're not the traditional (or cheap) way.

Before you flame me, I agree that these aren't ideal solutions, but what I'm saying is: are people really committing suicide because of the rush to get into tertiary education via the HSC? If that's not the reason then why do people stress so much? Are there other reasons students commit suicide in their final year of school?

By the way, I'm a bit cautious about this being in general thoughts (edit: oops) .. if it moves to News/Politics you can blame me. (one OT post and it's out of here.)

 

[breaking]

for the emotionally weak people, talk to your mates. Even someone you never talk to that seems like they'll listen.

exactly. and if they don't, there's a good chance they just want attention.

 

[timrie6]

Two things, if you cant handle the stress of the hsc then you shouldn't be alive, as harsh as that may sound. It really isn't stressful, all you have to do is realise that it is not the end of the world

sometimes theres alot more to people's situations than you will ever know
little things build up.

 

[Cactus]

I think we should be careful about labelling a suicide 'HSC related'. Normal ppl dont all of a sudden crumble under pressure of the HSC and try to kill themselves. There is often an underlying condition or situation which leads up to the attempted suicide. I kno someone whose family situation was the main 'cause' of their (unsucessful) suicide attempt, but the family wouldn't accept that and instead labelled it as HSC related

 

[Cactus]

holy crap i never realised how high the suicide rate was for year 12 students over the past decade. 110? christ, 1 is too many in my opinion.

I'm going out on a limb here without evidence but I would say that figure is nationwide and not just for NSW right?

 

[Danoz The Great]

There was some guy at my school last year who suffered a nervous breakdown, but I haven't heard of any suicides.

I agree, it isn't that stressful. I think people forget that their peers are there who are gonig through the same thing as them. Support from people like your friends makes it a hell of a lot easier

 

[timrie6]

I think it is stressful, I've never been so depressed in my life

 

[malkin86]

20 people out of how many? 10 000ish? I vote that to protect further generations, we all top ourselves a la Heaven's Gate so that the suicide rate is more statistically convincing.

*THIS IS NOT A REAL SUGGESTION - THIS IS MERELY STRESS-INDUCED POSTING - DO NOT KILL YOURSELF*

 

[NiKiTa]

i concur! >>>The HSC needs to be modified

its a shame that this kind of change is such a slow process... to begin with, the gov't and BoS should pay more attention to the opinions of those 65,000+ students sitting thru the new HSC... senior years were surely a lot less stressful back in their day when the HSC was known as the Intermediate Certificate. The suicide rates of 17-18 yr olds today should be enough to catalyse some reform.

Those now suffering this torture must make their voices heard >> CHANGE THE SYSTEM
but who will, and in what way?
personally i think there are too many factors involved in this topic - HSC improvement seems distant to me...

 

[Cactus]

20 people out of how many? 10 000ish? I vote that to protect further generations, we all top ourselves a la Heaven's Gate so that the suicide rate is more statistically convincing.

*THIS IS NOT A REAL SUGGESTION - THIS IS MERELY STRESS-INDUCED POSTING - DO NOT KILL YOURSELF*

Yeah as the previous post it's 65,000+ students in NSW alone.

i concur! >>>The HSC needs to be modified

its a shame that this kind of change is such a slow process... to begin with, the gov't and BoS should pay more attention to the opinions of those 65,000+ students sitting thru the new HSC... senior years were surely a lot less stressful back in their day when the HSC was known as the Intermediate Certificate. The suicide rates of 17-18 yr olds today should be enough to catalyse some reform.

As i said in a previous post, I think ppl here are misunderstanding and over-simplifying the 'causes' of a suicide. The HSC is not enough to make someone kill themself; thats why so few HSC students attempt it. There are previous underlying mental health issues which can lessen the student's ability to deal with the HSC.

I will probably get flamed for this but in my opinion the leading cause of youth suicide is lack of family support. I'm not saying it's the only reason, but in my experience (several suicides and attempts among family/friends) people who try to do it have low self esteem and self worth, ultimately caused by family issues.

 

[lukebennett]

Yeah as the previous post it's 65,000+ students in NSW alone.





As i said in a previous post, I think ppl here are misunderstanding and over-simplifying the 'causes' of a suicide. The HSC is not enough to make someone kill themself; thats why so few HSC students attempt it. There are previous underlying mental health issues which can lessen the student's ability to deal with the HSC.

I will probably get flamed for this but in my opinion the leading cause of youth suicide is lack of family support. I'm not saying it's the only reason, but in my experience (several suicides and attempts among family/friends) people who try to do it have low self esteem and self worth, ultimately caused by family issues.

finally someone speaking some sense (and not over simplifying the situation). ive said this once before but families in some cases put immense pressure on their children from a very young age and make them feel that they are worth only what they achiev. if you could imagine this happening to you for up to 18 years im sure youd either rebel or crack under this pressure=suicide. some people only feel worth anything unless they achieve.

 

[Cactus]

That is true, also family breakups or other dysfunction (in some cases an abusive family). What I think happens is there is some sort of support that a child in a 'normal' family gains from their family which allows them to deal with life's problems in a mature and beneficial way. Kids from the non supportive families have lower self worth and self esteem and cannot handle difficult situations