Holding the Lifeline
A Guide to Suicide Prevention

Module 4: Suicide Across the Life Span - Page 3 of 17

Suicide in Youth

a sullen looking youth with a marijuana leaf behind him

It is very rare for someone under the age of 10 to commit suicide. However, elementary age children may have suicidal ideation. Suicide rates increase with adolescence.

Due to extensive media coverage, the American public is well aware of the relatively rare cases of suicide/homicide shootings by troubled adolescents who eventually turn their weapons on themselves. These catastrophic events reinforce why reducing access to firearms and other lethal means is so important.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1994 and 1999, approximately 126 students "carried out a homicide or suicide that was associated with a private or public school in the United States."ref Of these students, 28, or 22 percent, died by suicide, including eight who intentionally injured other people before taking their own life. Two of the suicide victims had been reported for fighting and four had disobedient behavior in the year preceding their deaths; none were associated with gangs.

It was also reported that the following suicide risk factors were indicated:

Each of these three risk factors was common among the suicide victims. Statistics such as these bear out reasons why school staff need to learn to recognize and respond to risk factors for suicide. ref

Despite the press attention, most youth suicides don't involve school shootings. Most young people kill themselves without harming others. The methods may vary (firearms and suffocation being the most common), but one factor that does not vary is the frequent presence of substance abuse. Perhaps more than any other age group, substance abuse in older children and teens is more often associated with psychological distress.

<< Previous Page Next Page >>