14-year-old commits suicide
Published:Wednesday | September 21, 2011 | 12:23 PM
A 14-year-old student of Rhodes Hall High School in Hanover is believed to have committed suicide yesterday evening.
The police say the body was found hanging from a tree in his backyard at approximately 6:30 pm yesterday.
The teenager reportedly left home for school but was not seen at home at the expected time.
Relatives say they later found his body hanging from the tree.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, 1,725 persons were seen and discharged from the accident and emergency departments at government hospitals for attempted suicide during 1999-2009.
An look at suicide in Jamaica:
SUICIDE WATCH - Numbers climb as professionals grow more concerned
Persons from the 10-19 and 20-29 age brackets accounted for the lion's share of attempted suicide cases, with the 30-34 age cohort not far off the pace. Persons in the age 10-19 cohort accounted for 619 cases of attempted suicide, while 575 of those aged 20 to 29 tried to kill themselves.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has a 24-hour hotline, 1-888-429-5273 that is manned by counselors, for children who are under stress, or dealing with depression.
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