Teenage Wasteland by Donna Gaines was a little hard for me
to get through. She asked a lot of questions and investigated suicidal,
depressed kids who live in a suburban area of New Jersey. After finishing the
reading, I then was able to understand the sociological imagination of her
research.
The teenagers that committed this group suicide were labeled
as outcasts and losers. They did not fit in with the normal conformities around
them. This would either lead to a depressive state or some outlet to put that
negative energy somewhere else. Some kids who are told they are outcasts and
different don’t always submit to suicide as a way out.
These teenagers didn’t excel in their studies. They were
brought up in broken homes. They knew other people who committed suicide. They
had many financial constraints. They hated the environment they were brought up
in. All of these points were necessary to try to answer Gaines questions.
These four teenagers were so lost that it was enough for
them to commit mass suicide. This brings up many questions that only the dead
kids can answer. What happened? How sad are you? What’s going on with you?
These basic questions may have prevented some of these deaths. How did their
community attribute to their suicides? Did their communities reject them?
People need to feel loved; they need solidarity within their
lives. We find people who like the same things as us. Some kids have their
heads in comic books, or play an instrument, some paint or draw. Some kids play
X-box together or online games. These kids who committed suicide came together
for the sake of losing the feeling of helplessness.
