Society and media will never pay much attention to the welfare of teenagers who are deeply troubled and deeply troublesome, only their misdemeanours. On the day that 17-year-old Ryan Clark's (barely reported) suicide at Wetherby young offender institution emerged, the front pages dripped with outrage over pictures of the damaged face of four-year-old Jersey-Lou Perry after a "teenage yob" had hurled a brick at her. It was a terrible act, granted, but given the non-reporting of Ryan Clark, highlighted the warped sense of perspective.
The circumstances surrounding each of the five deaths, all as a result of hanging themselves, are thus far unknown so we should be careful about drawing firm conclusions. But nor should this spate of suicides be explained away as some sort of statistical freak.
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