1. By Emme Hilbert and Colin Toneys

2. Description of Theme Our theme is; Suicide and depression is very upsetting. Warning signs should be taken seriously. What this means is; that somebody who talks about suicide should be watched closely.

3. Theme existing in Romeo and Juliet “O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.” -Juliet Capulet The quote stated above is said by Juliet when she sees that Romeo is has committed suicide because he thought that Juliet died. She feels pressure that she has to die because her love is dead. The pressure she is feeling is from Romeo and her parents. They reason she is feeling pressure from Romeo is because she does not want to betray him and marry Paris.

4. Continued.. She feels pressure from her parents because she doesn’t was to marry Paris because she is married to Romeo but her parents do not realize that. Juliet then takes Romeos’ dagger and kills herself by stabbing it in her stomach.

5. Description of research question and topic Research question- How does teenage violence today affect suicide rates of modern American teens. Topic- How does teenage violence and peer pressure affect suicide rates? Description of research question; How does teenage violence and/or peer pressure today affect suicide rates.

6. Research In the U.S. more than 20,000 people die each year from violent acts, while another 2.2 million are injured. Incredibly, more than 10,000 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 are murdered or commit suicide. Violent acts do have affects on American teens.

7. Research In the article New York Daily News, Meghan Neal states that; the attempted suicide rate for high school students has risen from 6.3% to 7.8% in the last three years. High school has affect on students across the US. Some can not handle high school pressures.

8. Research In a survey of high school students, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center found that almost 1 in 5 teens had thought about suicide, about 1 in 6 teens had made plans for suicide, and more than 1 in 12 teens had attempted suicide in the last year. As many as 8 out of 10 teens who commit suicide try to ask for help in some way before committing suicide, such as by seeing a doctor shortly before the suicide attempt. 8/10 teenagers who commit suicide try and talk about it but it doesn’t help.

9. Research Derrick Paladino and Casey A. Barrio of Journal of American College Health state something like whether one knows someone who is thinking of suicide, has attempted suicide, or has completed suicide, nearly all individuals who encounter suicide are affected. All individuals connected to the person who commits suicide are affects by the suicide.

10. Link research to Romeo and Juliet “There lies that Tybalt” -Benvolio (Shakespeare 3.1.141). This is the quote is the start of the murders of the play. Tybalt dies in this scene when Romeo kills him. Mercutio and Tybalt both die in the scene. When they die it brings stress on both households. Romeo gets sent to Mantua because he killed Tybalt. Which leads to the death of both Romeo and Juliet.

11. Link research to Romeo and Juliet “Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, I drink to thee.” – Juliet (Shakespeare 5.2.58). This is when Juliet commits suicide. She commits suicide because Romeo does and she doesn’t want to be left alone. Romeo commits suicide because he thinks that Juliet is dead. Juliet is affected by Romeo committing suicide because she loves him.

12. Linked to American Teens Today Our research is linked to American teens today because all the statistics, quotes and facts were within the past 2 years. Which means that all of it is recent meaning suicide still happens and it is a common problem. American teens face a lot of problems at school, at home and all over the community. Most of them turn to suicide because they feel like they have nothing else.

13. Conclusion In conclusion our thesis is that American violence does affect the suicide rates. It affects them because bullying, and abusing have an affect on children. Warning signs and suicidal behavior should be taken seriously. Also if a child gets increasingly suicidal they should be taken to counseling.