Emily Proper                                                                     

Trapped between worlds, some Latina teens consider suicide

            A trend has been spotted in the overwhelming number of Latino girls committing suicide. The average suicidal Latino teen is 14 or 15 years old, lives in low-income homes and is the daughter of immigrant parents. The teens are at constant ends with their parents who wish their children to grow up with Latino values while attending American schools and living in American communities, The teens are having a hard time balancing both and pleasing their parents as well as doing the things they would like to do. Some girls find that even going to the pool with their friends to be unacceptable to their parents (mainly their mothers). When Francisca Abreu started to show signs of depresion and her teacher found the note she wroter to herself saying how she wanted to die, she was sent to a psychiatric center and started to attend therapy. She met a boy and trying to compensate for the lack of parental connection in her life she leaned on her new boyfriend. All was fine until she found out she was pregnant and she was only 14.

            Growing up is so difficult now a days expecially for girls. They need so much support and guidance from their parents in order to remain as safe and stable as possible. It is no surprise that the kids commiting suicide are the ones form low-income homes and have immigrant parents only because the stress in their life is at a greater level than most. Love and understanding are things that parents need to have when raising their kids or else they will only side further away into more dangerous situations.