Wow... Kids today...

*shrugs* just more pressure i guess....? i'm not really good at this shtuff...it depends on the person, really....

and most people i know have found out from movies and friends....

ha, sorry, i absolutely SUCK at explaining stuff lol

Ok, I didnt hear about it from anybody, I just started doing it when my step-dad moved in, it sort of came naturally(i cant really explain it). And i think people now a-day know about it cause times are changing i mean it used to be a rare thing to be divorcd from someone, but now pretty much everyone is. Than also a couple years ago EVERYONE didn't have cell phones like they do now. And how many 12 and 13 year olds do you know of that go and play tag outside or hang out in some place other than the mall? Not many, times have changed. Plus we have new technology, like years ago we didnt know much about depression,and bipolor, and other stuff. And, the way this site makes things seem, that everybody is cutting, is wrong. There were like 3 people in my school entire middle school last year. I am a freshman now but still not many people do it. I mean Everybody on this site are from differant states and even differant countries, I have not run in to anybody from my school on here. Its more rare than it seems. Well I hope that helped.
Love,
Melanie

Melanie, your post makes a LOT of sense. But the changes you mention have come over a period of decades. Still true, though. Excellent post.

Well, some people start cutting without ever knowing about it. I never knew there was such a thing as cutting, I just started doing it out of nowhere. After I started I used to pay more attention to lyrics of music and I found that there are A LOT of songs that make references to cutting. I even saw this one show where a character in the show actually cuts herself. I found that horribly wrong, it can be very triggering. It is true though... kids are starting to cut themselves at a younger age... and since cutting is growing I'm sure a lot of them hear about it from their friends and they think it's cool. That upsets me so much... some think it's really cool to cut so they do it just to be cool. Oh well, I guess times are really changing.

I hope this helped
~ Tina

I doubt if 2-4 years’ time has made much difference in the spread of cutting. It may seem so because what you find on the internet is much different from what you see in real life. It is true, as other posters mentioned, that some kids do it or pretend to do it for attention. But for MOST people who cut or self injure, it is done in solitude and they don’t discuss it or reveal it to their peers. The thing that has made the biggest difference in recent years is wider and more universal use of the internet. There are numerous sites that have come online in the last 5 years where cutting topics can now be discussed under the assumed safety of anonymous screen names. So, because it's not that hidden anymore, it may seem like it has become more widespread than it actually is.

Personally, I started cutting when I was 12, I always dug my nails into my hands and arms, and it seemed natural just to go that step further and pick up the knife...
It wasn't until a couple of years later that I realised that other people did it too. I came as quite a shock, but after that I started to notice things like song lyrics that I wouldn't have consired related to what I did before.
Now I realise that a lot of people cut for attention, and it's kind of saddening, because I want to help out anyone in the same position, but it makes me wary that they may just want the attention, or are even pretending.
Hope that helped,
*VioletRaven*

There's a movie called Thirteen were the heroine cuts herself in private after someone hurts her feelings.
I think that has spurred quite a few youngsters into cutting, even though now that I think of it, cutting isn't the right way to go.
I myself almost started a while back, and once I wanted to hurt myself, but digging my nails into my hands didn't make a really big difference, and biting my lip felt so weird...anyway my friends would ask were I got the scars, and I would never want to cause them the pain of worrying over me.

I think that writing really heavy poetry or very dark stories is a much better way to express yourself, and to unleash your inner pain, and who knows, maybe one day I'll be famous for it. *smiles.*

-beth

i started cutting when i was in the 7th grade, and my sisters friends were doing it, and i over heard them saying it was a release of emotional pain, i believed them, and i tried it, it worked, but of course wasnt the smartest thing to start

Before you even posted that, what were you thinking?
*Oh look here's some vulnerable people, how about i just make the situation worse. how about i make them feel just that little bit worse about themselves.

what satisfaction do you get out of that? i know it's just your opinion but you could have picked a better way of saying it...either that or not at all. this topic wasn't titled "make people feel like sh!t" or "put someone down" how about you go away have a little think about the impact you make on people's feelings, and when you fully understand this topic then you might have something intelligent to say

Nice on Emma! Totally agree with you.
*VioletRaven*

okay, so you just said 'Wow never knew voicing my opinion was so bad' which isn't true, voicing your opinion isn't necessarily bad, it was the little 'What a bitch' bit at the end that was uncalled for there. you just complained about someone saying something about your comment and then called them a bitch for their comment? ever heard the word hypocrite??? jesus.....

If i'm a bitch for voicing my opinion then what does that make you. at least mine was positive.
look i didn't comment to start a fight, so why should you...that's not what this site is here for.

How did 12-14 year old kids start cutting you ask. Well i don't beilieve that it just suddenly started, I just think that it has been less communicated before now. So 12-14 ear old kids just did't start just now, its just more voiced now.

As for how they start, thats like answering why anything is anything. People start for anyreason, wether they got it off of a movie or show, or just decided its what they would do.

JBN

Parents.

I did it before I even knew what it was when I was 11 and in the 6th grade.......but yeah.....I guess it depends....alot with trends....t.v., so many things and I hate them all!!!!

the fitting could be one reason they cut. some kids think it is cool. then if a girl sees a guy cutting who she likes she could try it just to get with him.
some kids have it rough and they think cutting is a good way maybe.
i used to cut but i started when i was fifteen. so i was young. i am also proud to say i have quit.
and for the question how did they know about it...
just look at how many post there have been on this site alone. which is open to the public. so think they could be getting it from anywere,

well i hope i helped with you question
with hope
Emma

hmm well i agree..although i guess i fit into that catergory when i first started 'cutting'.
for me, my friend had done it like a year b4, and so i have no idea why i started...she nearly died twice from doing it too deep.
Anyway i guess it just happened.
But i TOTALLY agree that things are happening way to quickly.
The pressure on ppl to have alreayd had sex, on drugs etc is so massive...it's crazy!!
xoxox

hmm, I kinda agree with what the more jaded of us have already said. I've never cut...I guess I have a million reasons to, but that whole instinct of self-preservation got in the way. I used to go through a phase where I would hit myself, but that was just because people kept telling me I was mentally imbalanced and whatever, and I was like trying to meet their expectations. Munchuaser's by Proxy, I think they call it. When they only started asking more questions and using other categorizations, I stopped. I don't want all that attention.

So, yeah, Beautiful Disaster. Nail. Head. Hit. Parents, the generation before, always screws up for the generation after.

You can blame movies, music videos, and the like too. After all, they make red look so pretty.

I can't be the only one that thinks red is pretty.

that is so true people have slowly learnt to accept that not only mental people do cut lol i know what i amtrying to say!

i have cut several times but not deep enough for permanent scars, well i hope not, and not frequent enough for people to seriuosly question, they are on my thighs and stomach so not too noticeable, and in the summer my tan hides them.

i started to do it when something major happened about 3 or so years and it started with me digging fingernails into wrista and scratching at the skin, to make it bleed, then it seemed natural to pick up the knife . . . i wish id never started this drug of emtional release, but i can control it and i know the last time i did it wasnt the last time ever.

I think kids grow up alot faster these days and end up dealing with more responsibilities younger. We've got 6 year olds going round in miniskirts that I wasn't allowed to wear till I was 16, LOL.
It's kinda sad - I didn't even know about cutting till I was 14 and apparently that's really late to learn about it. It's also really common at my school - it could even be seen as 'fashionable' which is really not good at all.

well, im 12. bad age i kno. when i was 11 there were these 2 ppl that asked my friends and me to join their club and i didnt want to... my friends said yes and i didnt want to be left alone so i stayed with them. one of the girls that started the club was friggin gothic (a.k.a. gothic poser) and talked to me sometimes. she even started IMing me on yahoo. then she let me view her webcam one day and she was drinking some coke and she was holding a razor.... that was a bad experience to think about. i wonder why it affects me.

i didnt think of it till last november when i was 11. that's why. i didnt cut tho. my mom just really screwed up my life and i was getting slapped n stuff.... i got so upset, i just wanted to die...

and this month i got even more upset... i decided to cut my arm with scissors and then i realised what i was doing before it was too late. i just lost control...
sometimes it just makes me feel better to just know im there... and then two days ago my friend called my and we talked for a few hours... then she said she was cutting herself with a CREDIT CARD. i was hoping she was joking till she said "ow" and i got so upset again. well, that's practically it.

im guessing that it spreads from one person to another (the information) and then a trend gets started. life's become harder. it's not fair, i know it isnt. i still listen to music, i have lots of friends, i watch TV, and yeah... i shouldnt even know about it. i blame the person that first started the trend.

was that any help?

no hard feelings,
rainy
--------------

P.S. Yeah. A lot of ppl at my school dont kno words with over 6 letters! isnt that strange? and i see more ppl in miniskirts, even trying to flirt with the teachers. there's also a lot of bullies that can do mean stuff other ppl would think is normal. I even have friends that can get teased, and if anyone teases me about wearing long clothes, not wanting to look showy, i get so PO that at one point i even started picking a fight. not to mention labels. Prep, goth, punk, poser, emo, geek, nerd, skater, i dont care what you call yourself or others, it can hurt feelings sometimes.

im giving up on just trying to be perfect. it's time to be me before the world kills everyone one by one!

First of all, I don't self harm. I may write poems about people doing it, but i don't myself. I always thought it was something to bring more pain, not bring relief from it. I've seen some girls my age who do it to spite the people who have hurt them- who do it for attention.
I don't know why people self-harm, it's something i won't be able to understand unless i experience it. I wish everyone with cutting problems the best of luck, but i don't think that it's growing as much as you say. I have 3 people in my year who cut- mostly for attention; to seem 'unique'.

Don't stereotype us 'kids' as posers- only the cutters know their reasons. Every age group has people like it- we just can't get the drugs as easy to make us turn away from the knife.

wow i didnt know how giving an answer was such a bad thing. yeah i stated my opinion he wanted to know how they got to know about those things! I told him how i started, jeez didnt knkow i was gonna get jumped on about it, if you want to yell at someone pm me and then we'll talk

I agree, ShadowRain.

A lot of you are 14 by now...

I know all of you are trying so hard, and I'm just so proud...

Some day the pain will end. The suffering will go away. Every bad moment will disappear.

But till then, it's only in your dreams that peace can last for life.

And life itself is the gift we were given because someone loved us.