The adolescent suicide rate in 2011 Clark County, Nevada quadrupled since 2008 and 2009 with sixteen children between the ages of 0 and 17 taking their own lives. This is only three fewer than the number of child deaths caused by homicide in the county. One of the most disturbing parts of this story is that the county had its youngest suicide victim this past year, a ten year-old child. This means that suicide prevention, previously focused on middle school and high school, may have to be expanded to include elementary school students. About 75 percent of these suicides were committed using a firearm, so families are being encouraged to lock up their weapons. The County is going to work towards increasing suicide prevention training for those working with adolescents.
Clark County's biggest tourist attraction and most populous area is Las Vegas, so I thought I would contrast the bright lights and high life of Las Vegas with the shocking reality of young death. I want my image to unsettle the viewer, drawing them in with flash and fun, then confronting them with violence. I would like to incorporate the famous Las Vegas sign in with images of suicide methods. The "welcome" part of the sign creates the perfect invitation to lure the viewer into the image. The imagery of slot machines would also invoke the idea of gambling with life. I have an idea of showing a cut wrist that is bleeding out a slot machine cherry, which I would illustrate, but I am not sure if this is too graphic or too obvious an image. I would like to incorporate some imagery that would represent youth, which is perhaps the part I could illustrate, but I am having brainstorming issues with this concept.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/13/clark-co-child-teen-suicides-up-fourfold-from-09/
No comments:
Post a Comment