NCJ Number
118412
Journal
School Safety Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1986) Pages: 8-11
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The national suicide rate for youth increased by 136 percent between 1960 and 1980, and suicide is now the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24 years.
Abstract
About 4,000 to 5,000 adolescents from different social backgrounds kill themselves each year. For every young person who completes suicide, another 100 try and fail. Boys complete suicide five times more often than girls, whites complete suicide twice as often as blacks, and girls attempt suicide much more frequently than boys. Drugs or alcohol are involved in two out of three suicides. Although there are no absolute answers for why adolescents attempt and succeed in killing themselves, suicide seems to be a response to intolerable pain. A complex set of cumulative factors, different for each individual, appears to interact with a young person's emotional, intellectual, and social stages of development. Signs of depression continue to be observed in many suicidal youth. Professionals recommend learning to identify the warning signs of suicide. A comprehensive system approach to suicide education is also recommended that includes teacher awareness training, parent awareness training, student awareness, community referral resources and linkage, and crisis intervention. Warning signs of suicide, sources of help, and measures schools can implement after a suicide occurs are discussed.