A Collapse in Morals

I just watched the movie To Save a Life, and if you have seen it, then you will know that it is a powerful movie. Everyone knows that people play beer pong, get drunk, smoke weed, get pregnant in high school, cut  themselves, and commit suicide. However, these things take a different meaning when you have seen them happen. In our day and age, there isn't a high school out there without someone who is involved in one of these activities. Why? Why is it that our morals have fallen so low that we resort to such activities? Our lives are in a sorry state if we rely on these things to make us happy and to get us through each day. How many people around us are involved in these activities, yet we do not care to look and see? I'm willing to guess that each of us know at least one, if not several. The hard thing is, they aren't always easy to find. I know people who have gotten high and drunk. I know people who have had sex outside of marriage. I know people who have cut themselves. I'm willing to bet that I even know people who have considered suicide, but are too broken on the inside to speak up about it.

If you haven't seen the movie, I'm sorry, as I am going to spoil it a bit for you. We all know someone like Roger. We all know people who are hurting inside. We see the people at lunch who sit by themselves, who are laughed at and made fun of. Yet, how many of us actually do something about it? Most of us aren't willing to accept the ridicule of others if we happened to step us and defend someone. Our personal pride and popularity has become more important than someone's life. We have problems, my friends. Every day we see people like Roger. I don't know about you, but I don't want to stand at someone's funeral and wonder if they would still be here today if I had been a better friend to them.

So, what can we do to reach out to people and make them feel as if they actually matter? Comments would be appreciated. What do you think that we can do to make people feel as if someone out there actually cares? I don't think that we realize how many people are hurting out there. According to the CDC, the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 is suicide. It is also the fourth leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10-14. That's disturbing. Many of these people are from broken homes. The divorce rate in the U.S. is currently about 50% of marriages. That is just sad. It breaks my heart to hear that. In 2010, 35% of high school seniors had used marijuana in the last year. According to Teenhelp.com 62.3% of high school seniors, in 2012, have been drunk, 30.8% binge drank within the past two weeks, and 3.6% drink daily. Drugs, alcohol, and divorce are all high on the list of factors which attribute to teen suicide.

So today I have a question for you: are you willing to set aside your personal pride and popularity in order to befriend someone who is a loner, so that you might be able to save their life? What will you do to make a difference?

Blessings,
Hannah