Teenagers And Stress

There has been much in the news lately about teenagers and stress. Apparently teen suicides are on the increase and bullying is often cited the cause. But is it as simple as that?

A contributing factor maybe, but perhaps there is more to it than that. For example, as a parent, I consider it my job to make sure my children are healthy - not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. OK, I'm not God and can't "make" my children healthy but I most certainly can set up an environment that supports it.

With teenagers and stress there is also the question of "resiliency". How resilient to stress are we and what kinds of things can we be doing to help our kids be more resilient?

Now, I'm not say we shouldn't be doing things to address bullying and its consequences. Nor I am suggesting that the parents of those kids affected by it are failing in their job. There are many factors involved in any given situation.

At the same time, I think we need to also look at ourselves and the society we are creating before we jump on a simple fix like "lets get rid of bullying in schools" and think that by doing so everything will be OK.

What do you think? Should the government be doing more to outlaw bullying in schools or is it a social problem that we all need to own? And how do we go about it?