Teens and Suicide: What Educators Should Know

SAMHSA Unveils Data on Youths Contemplating Suicide

A Devestating Problem

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. government recently released new data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showing that there were approximately 3 million youths aged 12 to 17 who thought seriously about suicide or attempted suicide in 2000.

The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse asked youths about thoughts of suicide and their use of alcohol and illicit drugs. The data show that 13.7 percent of these youths aged 14-17 considered suicide in the past year. Only 36 percent of those at risk children received mental health treatment or counseling. The data also reveal that youth who used alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year were more likely than youths who did not use illegal substances to consider taking their own lives.

About a quarter of youths who used illicit drugs in the past year thought about or tried to kill themselves.

Saying, "Even one death by suicide is one death too many," SAMHSA's director Mr. Curie explained that "the challenge is to identify, evaluate and promote community-based suicide prevention programs that work - systems of services in which every door can be the right door to help." He noted that among SAMHSA initiatives to combat teen suicide is the Signs of Suicide project that is educating teens about depression and the signs of depression. "We need to help teens make the link between untreated depression and the risk for suicide, and help them identify serious depression or suicide risk in a friend. We must encourage teens to tell a responsible adult when a friend is at risk for suicide."

Of the almost 3 million youth aged 12-17 who thought about suicide or attempted it during the past year, over one third, 37 percent, actually tried to kill themselves. Females (16 percent) were more likely than males (8 percent) to report contemplating suicide during the past year. The risk was higher among youth aged 14-17 than among those 12 or 13. The likelihood of suicide risk was similar among white, black, Hispanic and Asian youth. The risk of suicide among youth was similar whether they lived in large metropolitan areas, small metropolitan areas or non-metropolitan counties. The highest rate was in the West where 13.5 percent of children aged 12 to 17 had thoughts of or attempted suicide.

Some Statistics

The suicide rate for teens and young adults has been increasing dramatically in the past 20 years, and certain ethnic groups are at a particularly high risk. According to the Surgeon General's report, from 1980 to 1996, the suicide rate among youth aged 10-14 increased by 100 percent, and among African Americans aged 15-19, the rate has increased by 105 percent (Peters, Kochanek & Murphy, 1998). Between 1952 and 1995, the incidence of suicide among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled, and suicide is now the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-24, with most instances being firearm-related (Koop & Lundberg, 1992). The suicide rate for American Indian/Alaska Natives aged 10-19 is 25 to 28 per 100,000 and is the highest suicide rate among all ethnic groups. In addition to the increased risk factors for ethnic groups, there is also evidence that gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens are also at a high risk for suicide. In fact, suicide is the number one cause of death for gay teens.

The Psychological Theories

A number of theories about what causes suicide have been developed since Emile Durkheim first postulated his sociological model on the different types of suicides. Most of the research on the causes of teen suicide has focused on the relationship between depression and teen suicide. One of the more recent theories on teen suicide has examined modeling or imitation as a contributing factor. Imitation refers to a behavior that a teenager has heard about or seen and decides to copy. Newspaper accounts of "epidemics" of teen suicide are examples of imitation. The best predictor of suicide among adolescents is a history of attempted suicide by a friend. Although we have learned more about the various forces at work in teen suicide, a strong commitment to federal funding for research, treatment and prevention is necessary if we are to keep pace with a society that is constantly changing and placing new demands on our teenagers.

The Educator's Task

ALWAYS, when an educator suspects a student's despondency which may include the contemplation of suicide, the school counselor or psychologist should be contacted.

Four out of five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warnings. Pay attention to these warning signs:

• Suicide threats, direct and indirect
• Obsession with death
• Poems, essays and drawings that refer to death
• Dramatic change in personality or appearance
• Irrational, bizarre behavior
• Overwhelming sense of guilt, shame or reflection
• Changed eating or sleeping patterns
• Severe drop in school performance
• Giving away belongings

Suicide Prevention at YellowRibbon's website

MentalHelp's website

American Academy of Pediatric's website

National Mental Health Association's website

Having the right tools to help students understand "right from wrong" is obviously important. But students make mistakes. As educators, our job is to help those students learn from those mistakes and become better "connected" to their school. Our discipline learning packets serve that role.

These packets are designed to provide constructive, positive learning experiences for students who have violated a school behavior standard. Although the primary purpose of our packets and lessons is to serve as the consequence for an unacceptable behavior, we have de-emphasized the punitive aspect and stressed the positive learning experience that comes from understanding and reflecting on one's actions. We want the student to think about WHY it is wrong to talk back to the teacher, or hit someone, and to understand how others feel when they are the subject of disrespect or have been knocked down by someone running or otherwise being careless.

By emphasizing the feelings and rights of others, we attempt to lead students to a more empathetic and social understanding of the effects of their actions and the fact that this behavior impacts on the whole school community.

You can read more about our philosophy behind the Discipline Learning Packet Program at this website: Advantage Press - Philosophy

Do these Packets really work? We asked that questions to schools using our Learning Packets. The results were most positive! Examine the survey results at our website.

We have now made it even easier to use our packets. If you don't want to purchase the whole program you can download individual discipline packets from our website. Over one hundred different packets for middle school and high school students are now available for immediate download for as little as $4.00 (US) each. Additional packets are being added every month.

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