The NZ HERALD today provides us with appalling statistics on child suicides in NZ.The article quotes Prime Minister John Key,

“suicide was a complex issue and the Government didn’t have all the answers.

Well, that may well be because it is not asking the right questions? He goes on to say,

 “When a young person takes their life, as a country you mourn that, because as adults we know that there’s always a solution to problems.

Yes John, there are solutions once you know the problem. If you don’t understand the problem or choose to ignore it then a solution will never eventuate.

Misguided research may indicate that a lot of these children are victims of bullying and concluded that this is the factor that needs addressing. However, I believe that it is the lack of self esteem these children possess that makes them unable to handle the effects of bullying and many other negative factors that a young life encounters. This issue may well be due to the lack of fathering. If this is found to be the case then the solution is to change the existing system so that fathering holds a far more prominent position in society than is does in the present moment.

MOMA, if Government funded, could conduct research using the methodologies of quantitative, qualitative and participatory research thereby giving us a clearer understanding what role the lack of fathering has in these suicides. 

I may be wrong in my reasoning but on the basis of statistics showing the vast number of solo mothers would it not be prudent to investigate the issue and at least commission MOMA to conduct it’s own research and the results made public?

Some further data supplied in the article is-:

Total suicides over five years – 2717

Key findings:

– The number of suicides recorded by the Coronial Services Unit in the year to June 30 was 547, down 11 on the previous 12 months

– 74 per cent of all suicides in New Zealand were male

– Increase in suicides in the 15-19 age group – from 56 to 80

– The most common method of suicide (61 percent) was hanging, followed by poisoning and overdose

– 28 percent of people who killed themselves were unemployed