Suicide to Poverty

The tragic life of Mariannet Amper, or why children commit suicide
11/10/2007 | 09:15 PM

She would have completed her elementary school, but the 12-year-old girl grew so dejected that she hanged herself, and her dreams of finishing school died with her.

Mariannet Amper’s suicide last week in Davao City hogged headlines and sparked off protest rallies against the government.

Poverty has been blamed on her decision to end her life.

Under her pillow was a letter she wrote addressed to television program, “Wish Ko Lang," which grants viewers’ wishes. On it, Mariannet wished for a new pair of shoes, a bag, a bicycle and better-paying jobs for her parents.

She also left a diary, narrating her family’s difficulties surviving a life penniless in a little hut that has neither electricity nor running water.

She also wrote that she had not attended school for a month for lack of transportation fare.

...

But psychiatrists disputes (sic) that poverty cannot be the only factor to push someone, especially a child, to commit suicide.

It seems that I've been posting gloomy incidents recently --- a poem for All Saints, prayers for the Glorietta blast and Saguisag's accident. And now the suicide of Mariannet Amper.

12 years old. Such a tender age to grieve and reflect on life's cruelty. But is it?

I remember when I was in my teen years, I got depressed and wanted to end my life as well. Yet I live. I'm a coward at being a coward, I guess.

Another post for this issue tomorrow. :)