As a former self-harmer, a good way I learned to stop cutting myself was to get a bag of ice and put it on the area where I wanted to cut. I would leave it there until it started to get too cold or hurt, and that usually did the trick to get the pain reaction I needed. Distracting myself with a book, TV, drawing, etc. would help when it wasn't too bad.
I'm not going to judge your reasons for it, but I will say that cutting for the attention of your parents would probably get you sent to the doctor. From there, who knows? I understand your need for them to see how they're hurting you, but cutting is not the way to go.
Talking it out calmly and rationally can help, and if they don't listen, venting about it in a journal really gets the anger out.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.