We live in a cruel and unfair world. Terrible things happen. There are bombings, shootings, abuse cases, rape cases, tragedy. The main tragedy that happens among teenagers, it seems, is having to deal with suicide. Suicide is not something to be taken lightly. On average, there are 121 suicides per day in the United States.[https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/] This is an issue that we need to help end. Everyone cares whenever someone is gone, where were those same people when those hurting were still alive?

I know this has been a hot topic among teenagers and older generations with the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why" becoming wildly popular, so I figured I'd voice my opinion a bit on the matter.

In that show, there is a girl who committed suicide that gave tapes to certain people who were one of the 13 reasons why she killed herself. The whole series wrapped around those people thinking back and feeling such regret for how they treated her and how they wished they could go back and fix it. I was watching this show and it got me thinking. How many people are so hurt by us and we have no idea until it's too late? Everyone seems to be so caring and helpful whenever it's too late, but no one remotely thinks about how they treat people on the daily.

Some of the people who will post on Facebook/Twitter/etc. "R.I.P. *insert name here*" are the ones making fun of the girl in their choir class who doesn't dress the "right way." They're the ones who will glare at you up and down in the hallways just because you're different than what they're used to. This is all a huge pet peeve of mine. You cannot act like you're a caring, compassionate person on social media just to get likes and not be about it in real life. I've thought a lot about how I've mistreated people in the past, and I've tried to go through and apologize to everyone I've ever truly hurt. If you want to be the good person that you're portrayed to be all over your social media, you must act like it 24/7.

Think about the last thing you said to someone you were in a fight with, would it absolutely destroy you if you had that said to you? I bet it would. As young adults, when we fight we try to belittle the other person and make them feel worse than we do. Belittling someone to hide your own insecurities is never, I repeat NEVER, okay.

This was mainly just a way to rant because I'm sick of people portraying that they're this awesome person just to get likes and shares, and then they're pointing and laughing and bullying some innocent kid. I wish more people realized that words and actions hurt. Hurting people hurt people. This was in no way meant to hurt the feelings of those who have been affected by suicide in any way. My condolences go out to those who have been hurt by that.

The National Suicide Prevention Line is 1-800-273-8255. Please call them if you're ever feeling that suicide is the only option, I promise you it's not.

To the ones who only care whenever tragedy strikes, open your eyes, realize the hurt you're causing and stop it. Be compassionate, be helpful and be kind. Share the love. Stop with the negative, be the positivity we need. Be the change you want to see in the world.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." -John 13:34