September 4th, 2007
From Colorlines: Suicide Rates Up Among Latina Teens
By Daisy Hernández, Colorlines:
A Federal study has found that one in six Latina teenagers has attempted suicide. That’s a rate roughly one and a half times as high as that among Black and white teenage girls…
These tragic situations are not only about parent-child conflicts. They’re also the result of the institutional problems in education and healthcare facing communities of color. The Bush administration’s ongoing support of abstinence-only sex education has particularly hurt Latinas, who are three times more likely than white teens to be pregnant by the age of 20. Likewise, arguments between children and parents about schooling tend to focus on the low grades of the teenager, with perplexed parents wondering why their children are failing in under-funded schools.
