Teens in trouble

The new report out of the CDC is a terrible picture of life – and death – for our teens. It’s a worse picture for girls.

The suicide rate among preteen and teenage girls rose to its highest level in 15 years, and hanging surpassed guns as the preferred method, federal health officials reported Thursday.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests a surprising reversal in recent trends.

The biggest jump — about 76 percent — was in the suicide rate for girls ages 10-14 from 2003 to 2004. There were 94 suicides in that age group in 2004, compared to 56 in 2003.

Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, a noted Catholic psychiatrist, made this brief comment in an email to associates today:

This is a reflection of the severe pathology in the culture and of the damage caused by being used as a sexual object.  In the words of John Paul II in Letter to Families too many young people today are “orphans with living parents.”

What a statement.

Here’s the Letter to Families. We sure need it.