Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and the suicide rate has increased 30% since 1999. The increase coincides with the increasing availability of news regarding celebrity suicides over the past twenty years. Just in the past few days, for example, we've had the highly publicized suicides of Spade and Bourdain. Simply put, many people are influenced by and try to emulate the actions of celebrities, and there is no reason to think suicide is an exception. Therefore, my position is that the deaths of celebrities should be reported without mention of suicide being the cause. Furthermore, Hollywood should refrain from including suicides in movies and tv shows, and schools should not assign the reading of Romeo and Juliet.
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