JUVENILE SUICIDES.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10732, 1 November 1928, Page 3

JUVENILE SUICIDES.

WAVE SWEEPING- LONDON

WORLD-WEARY GIRL OF SIXTEEN

JUMPS FROM FIFTH STOREY AFTER MILD REBUKE EXPERTS’ COMMENTS United Press Assn, by EL Tel. Copyright (Australian 1 Pre«a Assn * LONDON. Oct. 30 The Westminster coroner, Cornell ting on the death of a 16-year-old offi'oo girl, who jumped from a fifth floor window in a fit of pique because she had been mildly rebuked, said: “A wuve of juvenile suicide is sweeping London. World-weary at 16 is amazing. Too many young people seem to hold life lightly.” Ho recalled tile fact that u girl committed suicide because she hud to wear her mother’s black hat at a funeral. A wealthy youn" man_ cut himself while shaving, and in a fit of annoyance jumped from a window. A young man with his liunds in his pockets jumped into tho Thames without reason.

“Weariness before the age of discretion 'seems common in the rising generation”, he added. The coroner’s remarks prompted many prominent peojflo to give their views. ■

Mr. Eldon Moore, editor of the Eugenics Review, said: “Put bluntly, science is keeping alive nowadays babies who otherwise would not survive. So-called worldweary hoys and girls belong to that .category. 5 ’ Dame Mary Scharlied, the surgeon, said: “The position is largely accountable by young people taking up responsibilities earlier in life than used to ho tho .case,”

Dr. Bernard Hollander, the mental specialist, says: “Suicide whims can seize the strongest-minded, who later grow into healthy citizens. The unsound mind verdict is,. often a fiction to soothe tho relatives.”