Hear from Teens

• GZYouth.com Message Board - Local students tell us about thier experiences cutting. Why they did it & how they got out of it.
• Survivor's Wall - Students who were stuck in anorexia, bulimia & cutting and have overcome them.
• Blurty.com - real life web diaries from teens who cut about thier life. Caution: this is raw, uncensored emotions of real teens telling the way they really feel about their lives right now. Discressionary viewing is encouraged.
• SelfMutilation.net - One student's life. Discression STRONGLY ADVISED. Langauge & Content UNSUITABLE for young viewers.

Articles to Read

• Cutting: A dangerous trend that parents need to be aware of - by Drew Cope, (the short version published in the Avon Grove Sun on 10.01.2003)
• Cutting: A dangerous trend that parents need to be aware of - by Drew Cope, (an extended, more in-depth version of the article)
• CPYU.com 1999 Article - Loud cry, no noise
• CPYU.com 1997 Article - Crying through their cuts
• PageWise - What is self mutilation and other self abusive behaviors? Self abusive behavior has been called the new-age anorexia. But why and what makes these teens hurt themselves?
• KidsHealth.org - Cutting... why, dangers, warning signs, getting help
• SelfInjury.net - Useful Resources, tips & articles

Finding Help

• Celebrate Recovery - a local support group helping people past lifes hurts, habits, & hang ups.
• Helping those who hurt themselves - Unfortunately, there is no magic cure for self-inflicted violence. However, there are some things which you can do (and some things you shouldn't do) which can help those individuals who are hurting themselves.
• alternatives - resist the urge to cut, try these ideas instead
• ChristianAnswers.net - my panel will disagree with some stuff on this site, but they do have an extensive list of books, articles & resources for you.
• Mirror-Mirror.org - helpful article with tips to help you overcome the urge to cut.
• SelfInjury.net - a site designed by people who struggle with depression everyday in an effort to help others.

Books on the Subject

• The Bright Red Scream - by Marilee Strong
• Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation - by Steven Levenkron

Poetry that speaks volumes

• My Poem
  im going to write a poem.
  a poem with a twist.
  i'll write it with a razor
  i'll write it on my wrist.
  and when i write this poem
  a fountain will apear.
  with this pretty fountain
  all my problems will disapear.
  - annon
  
  
• where I make friends
  with my sorrow
  I feel used
  and I want to cry out to my mother again
  like i did when i was six
  and she would come and wrap her arms around my little body
  and make everything okay
  I wish she could come right now..
  and make me happy
  But if she saw me
  would she scream?
  Would she hesistae to touch my broken
  bloody body?I have no one
  Nobody can touch a being like me
  - by masterpissant, a Blurty.com user
  
  
• Why does it hurt YOU when your FRIENDS cut? How deep does friendship go?
  You see, my friends are my life, most people my age depend on their friends as their support, as their trust, because they can chose their friends, and they chose them to know they're gonna be there. Once you have a friend you are gonna be with them for a long time. Many examples will prove this point. But when I have a friend, I consider them a part of me...they are in my heart...they pump my blood and keep me alive. If they are hurting themselves, they are hurting my heart, they are slicing away at their skin, well then they're doing the same to me *why i wear my bracelets*, Everytime my friends takes that razor and brings it across their wrist, they are taking blood from my body, from my heart and letting it leave them... it's like they might as well just cut me instead of themselves cause i feel it more than them. About the bracelets, a lot of people that do wear bracelets, wear them for that reason. Because they want to cover up marks, scars, etc. You could take my bracelets off and see clean wrists, but I wear them for symbolism, I promise. I want my friends to know I feel what they feel, if not more. Again with the bracelets, that is why they're there.
  - by N.B., a Ground Zero 9th grader
  
  
• Scars
  Scars I want to fade
  Scars your lies made
  
  Scars running inside of me
  Scars of what I was changing to be
  
  Scars I wish would go away
  Scars showing me a brighter day
  
  Scars I can no longer hide
  Scars of the skin I deprived
  
  Scars that show you how you make me feel
  Scars that will never heal
  
  Scars of my past
  Scars of my feelings that will never last
  
  Scars of wrong turns
  Scars of my heart stinging with burns
  
  Scars of me being dumb
  Scars making me numb
  
  Scars of all this grief
  Scars showing some kind of relief
  
  Scars that wont end
  Scars of my non-existing heart trying to mend
  
  Scars of blood that wont stop
  Scars showing my stress level pasted the top
  
  Scars of what people put my through
  Scars of me needing you
  
  Scars showing I'm done
  Scars showing you have won
  
  Scars showing what I took
  Scars that make people look
  
  Scars of you lie
  Scars helping me die
  
  Scars of what I can take
  Scars my razor helped make
  
  Scars showing my hate
  Scars showing your to late
  
  Scars I cant fix
  Scars of all the blood that was to mix
  
  Scars of the blood that trinkled down
  Scars of my frown
  
  Scars of ways I felt
  Scars of my life melting
  
  Scars of you no longer there
  Scars of my just standing here
  
  Scars that are so true
  Scars of me tired and blue
  
  Scars of my life
  Scars of a new knife
  
  Scars of things to change
  Scars of my out of control rage
  
  Scars of me holding back tears
  Scars of me showing my deepest fears
  
  Scars of water felling up my eyes
  Scars of my life slowly saying goodbye
  
  Scars showing all my anger
  Scars putting my life through danger
  
  Scars of all your glory
  Scars telling my life in one big story
  - by an 8th grade young lady in Ohio