Summary “a Suicide at Twelve: Why, Steve?’”

Van Nguyen

Professor William Silver

ENGL 104L - TTh 10:45

13 October 2016

Rough Draft

Summary “A Suicide at Twelve: ‘Why, Steve?’”

        In the article, “A Suicide at Twelve: ‘Why, Steve?” by Richard E. Meyer, the author displays a character who hides his feelings, so that people cannot recognize his psychical issues. Meyer discusses statistical numbers about suicide in America in order to demonstrate that young people have a good life like Steve Dailey. According to Meyer, there are many similar tragedies regarding suicides committed by  teenagers within the past year, but the one involving Steve stands out.  Steve was a very emotional kid who was stressed out a lot and couldn’t express himself to anyone; it is believed that led to the incident.

Meyer describes how Steve Dailey’s life underwent from when he was born to up to the last day of his life. First, Steve was a child that lived in middle-class America. He enjoyed being all by himself. Steve just stayed inside, watched television or worked on his project while his brother, Mike, was playing baseball with the other neighbor children outside. Steve’s father also wanted him to play the second level of football, but the boy just felt that he was only good enough to play the first level, however, Steve played very well at the Cub Scouts. He obtained the high award of Cub Scouts. After several years, Steve was able to play at a higher level. His father, however, told him that he had to play a fall sport even though Steve’s favorite sport was soccer. Furthermore, Meyer shows that Steve was an introverted person. Steve Dailey performed his affection on a special occasion during his mother’s birthday. Besides this, the author pointed out that Steve tried his best doing the things he had extreme interests in doing. For instance, he worked many jobs to earn enough money go to the Philmont Scout Ranch, and  in school, he got high grades in his favorite subjects.

Moreover, Meyer points out that Steve did things that did not fit his father's purpose or expectations. It could be because of the pressures that came with  being the son of an athletic director. Steve’s father wanted him to play football and lose weight, and Steve had done that. However, the author mentions other people’s comments to Steve. For example, the coach recognized that Steve was different from other kids, so Steve did not have any close friends. That was a thing that Steve’s father never noticed to his son’s friends. Furthermore, the baseball manager realized that Steve did not like baseball. Steve’s teacher complained about his English grammar that he used in his homework; this negatively impacted Steve's grades. Nevertheless, the boy’s father had a short conversation with him and gave him a warning, but he failed to understand why Steve did what he did.