Viewpoint by Colt Langley/managing editor

Suicide is something that seems to be more common than one would think or even hope. It has become a more regular occurrence.

The topic comes to mind after reading about the two suicides in recent news, one at the University of Texas at Austin and the other at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Just in the past five years, I’ve heard of four suicides that have happened in or around my hometown of Grapevine, some involving people I know or had met. They ranged from the age of 14 to one who was in her 50s when she decided to take her own life.

When I heard about the first death, it tied me up inside. It was someone I had known since the age of 5, maybe younger. She was also the girlfriend of one of my best friends.

It is so sad that someone feels the only way to cope is to leave Earth entirely.

Before these recent college news stories, if I heard about a suicide in the news, I just tuned it out. In no way did I want to hear or relate to such an event. 

There’s no getting around it. It’s a selfish act.

Something strange about Colton Tooley, the student who shot himself at UT’s library, is he came armed with an AK-47, leading one to think he had plans other than shooting himself.

Rutgers’ student Tyler Clementi was “bullied” on Facebook because of a sex video featuring him with another man.

It’s cruel and inconsiderate of whomever started that video online in the first place as well as anyone else who decided to share it. Where’s the common courtesy of respecting one’s privacy?

But whatever the matter, it seems suicide has become a common and easy way out for some.

People need to understand the preciousness of life and the good that can come of it.

Especially through the rough times, one can look back and see how much they have grown.

That is the only way youth will learn to overcome their own problems — by learning from their elders, who throughout the years stuck through the hard times.