RSIPF call for more discussions on issues affecting youth as another suicide incident is reported

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) calls for more discussions on issues affecting youth in the country as another suicide incident involving a 20-year-old male person is reported to have happened at the Sun Valley area East of Honiara on 10 December 2018.

Police at the Henderson Police Station also attended to an attempted suicide incident involving another youth also on the same day at the Zome Enterprises Yard at Henderson.

These two recent incidents followed reports received by police of several suicide incidents involving youth in the Mbalasuna area on North Guadalcanal in the past months.

“Any suicide incident is a concern for the police and our sympathies go to the families of victims of the suicide incidents. Unfortunately when an incident is reported to us, someone has already lost their life. And all we can do is investigate and write a report for the coroner,” says RSIPF Commissioner Matthew Varley.

Commissioner Varley suggests: “ I believe one option to prevent suicides happening in our communities is to discuss the challenges facing youth within our communities and try to address some of the root causes of these suicides.”

“Police are not experts at dealing with youth who are facing social issues in the communities but there are people within the communities who are experts at dealing with these issues.

This includes community leaders, pastors or priests and health workers who actually live with the people in their villages and see young people experiencing these challenges on a daily basis. A health worker may recognize someone who may be traumatized or depressed and address it with the help of a church worker,” says Commissioner Varley.

He emphasizes: “But it is important that we discuss the issues affecting our youth because it is from the discussions that we find out from the youth themselves why they are depressed or traumatized and try and address the causes before a youth, who is the future of Solomon Islands, lose their live unnecessarily.”

“I call on all our community leaders to be vigilant especially during the coming festive season and organize activities for our youth like sports activities to make sure our youth are engaged in something that is healthy for them and not allow them too much free time that will lead them to consuming alcohol and kwaso and other illicit substances,” says Commissioner Varley.