Boarding Schools for Girls

The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court has been a significant source of pride within the Hispanic community. But other recent news hasn't been nearly as hopeful for Hispanic parents and children.

A June 6 article by Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje of the (San Antonio) Express News reported that Latina girls are at considerable risk for suicide:

Latinas age 12 to 17 make up the largest and fastest-growing minority group of girls in the nation. And they are more at risk of trying to take their own lives than any other racial or ethnic group their age.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of Latina teenagers have contemplated suicide and around 15 percent have attempted it, compared with 10 percent of Anglo and African-American teen girls who have attempted. Some studies put the percentage of Latina [suicide] attempters even higher. ...

Leticia Flores Canchola, director of nursing at Southwest Mental Health Center, a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents, said 60 percent of girls who are admitted for suicide attempts are Latina, which is proportional to their local population numbers. "The majority of those who come in are sad, hopeless, helpless," she said. "They say, 'Nobody wants me.' It's a way out for them."

As is often the case with suicide, the cause of rising suicide rates among young Latina girls escapes easy identification. Luis Zayas, a researcher Latino psychology expert, told the Express News that "cultural expectations, gender issues, ethnic identity and adolescent-parental conflict converge in a toxic brew to push young Latinas to the edge."

Labels: teenagers, girls, latina, suicide

Posted By: Aspen/CRC