Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents, while mental heath problems are increasingly common among young people and children. The researchers draw attention to the broader concept of suicide, which also includes suicidal thoughts and attempts. Talking about suicide, despite the misconception that it increases risk, is an important factor in preventing impulsive actions and not only benefits those facing suicidal thoughts, but is part of a comprehensive prevention strategy. Teachers have an important role to play as they can build relationships with students and encourage open conversation, thereby reducing stigma and encouraging young people to talk about their problems.
Youth problem literature deals with topics that are more challenging, opens up crisis situations that are often traumatic for the protagonist and have strong impact on his life. Problematic topics in literature, on the other hand, can provide teachers with a softer introduction to the discussion of topics that are more challenging and sometimes uncomfortable even for adults. Through a variety of methods, teachers can achieve the goals of literature teching, help reduce stigma, and at the same time give students the oppurtunity to speak about their struggles.
In my theoretical work, I first described the phenomenon of suicide, suicide among young people and how it can be prevented. Then I focused on youth literature, didactics of youth literature and later on problem literature. In these chapters I wrote about the characteristics of the problem novel, the problematic topic of death in children's and youth literature and young people as readers of problem literature. Finally, I have selected three fairy tales in which we can find the theme od death and suicide, and have described some methods that could help us to deal with this theme when teaching literature.
In the empirical part, I conducted a qualitative reasearch with which I wanted to get a better insight into the views of teachers and students in grades 4 and 5 of primary school on the topic of suicide in literature classes. In doing do, I focused on several aspects, namely the reading habits of students, the expriences and attitudes of students and teachers about dealing with the topic of suicide in literature classes, the frequency of dealing with problematic topics in literature classes, the sense of competence of teachers to deal with the topic of suicide, and the familiarity of teachers and students with the myths and truths about suicide.
By conducting interviews, I included 11 students and 5 teachers in the 4th and 5th grade of primary school. I have found that students are very inclined to discuss the topic of suicide and are interested in it, but most have no experience of dealing with this topic in class. While some teachers do not often address problematic topics in their literature classes, others place them on purpose and use literature classes to address topics they cannot do in other subjects. Teachers are generally inclined to deal with problematic topics and often address them in other subjects and class hours as well. They choose problem topics based on the problem they percieve in the classroom or on what is happening in the environment in which they live. However, teachers are reluctant to deal with the problematic topic of suicide and do not usually address it in class, nor do most of them feel competent to deal with the topic of suicide. Finally, I checked teachers and students' awareness of the myths and truths about suicide. Responses showed that the level of awareness of both teachers and pupils is relatively low and that there are no significant differences in awareness between teachers and pupils. This shows how important it would be to raise awareness about suicide.
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