The Preventable Tragedy of Youth Suicide

In this 2018 article, the first of two parts, Franklin Schargel sets out statistics on youth suicide and argues that schools can act on it with recognition and resources. The section below, added in 2026, gives more recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explains what is known about risk and protection, and lists where students and staff can find help.

Suicide replaced homicide as the second leading cause of teenage death

Editor’s note (2026): These figures date from 2016 to 2018. Current CDC figures are in the section added below.

by Franklin P. Schargel

Editor’s Note: This is part one in a two-part series

Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after accidents. In June 2016, the CDC reported that teenage suicide had replaced homicide as the second leading cause of teenage death. Almost as many teens die from suicide as the fourth through the tenth leading causes of death combined. It’s also thought that at least 25 attempts are made for every completed teen suicide.

Students who are bullied frequently feel that suicide is the only way to escape the taunting. Students who are gay or made to feel different because they are short or too fat or too skinny or whatever resort to suicide.  

If you’ve ever been in a school where a student has attempted or been successful in committing suicide, you know how devastating the effects can be on other students, parents, friends of the victim and staff.  Schools report that there are frequently “copycat” attempts after a reported successful attempt.

Suicide is highly preventable with young people – it just requires recognition and resources. Most schools have a written protocol for dealing with students who show signs of suicidal behavior. Unfortunately, many educators do not know the signs of potential suicides nor have they been trained in how to address the problem.  Like many of the other social ills that schools are forced to deal with, suicide is something that requires schools to be proactive.

Did You Know?

• In the next 24 hours, 1,439 teens will attempt suicide. As many as 250,000 adolescents made a serious unsuccessful effort to kill themselves in 2017.
• The fastest-growing group successfully completing suicide is children between the ages of 10 – 14.
• The suicide rate in the past 25 years has been decreasing, yet the rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. The adolescent suicide rate is nearly 33 percent higher than that of the overall population.
• The ratio of male to female suicides is four to one. However young women attempt suicide nine times more frequently. Guns are the most common means of suicide among males. Pills are the most commonly used method of suicide for females.
• Caucasian males have had the highest increase in suicide. The has been an increase in incidence for white females. Suicide among young African Americans has also dramatically increased.
• Half of all children who have made one suicide attempt will make another, sometimes as many as two a year until they succeed.
• According to a study published in Pediatrics, gay and bisexual teens are 20 percent more likely to attempt suicide in politically conservative areas than in “supportive” environments.  
• The risk of suicide increases dramatically when kids and teens have access to firearms at home, and nearly 60 percent of all suicides in the United States are committed with a gun. That’s why any gun in a home should be unloaded, locked, and kept out of the reach of children and teens.
• Overdose by over-the-counter, prescription, and non-prescription medicine is a very common method for attempting and completing suicide. Carefully monitor all medications in your home. Be aware that teens will “trade” different prescription medications at school and carry them (or store them) in their locker or backpack.
• Native American suicide rates for age group 15 to 24 are 3 times that of all Americans according to the New Mexico Department of Health Data. (Albuquerque Journal, November 19, 2011, p.C1)

Statistics About Suicide

Source:  National Alliance on Mental Health

1. American Psychology Association – Teen Suicide is Preventable
2. Psychology Today – Understanding Teen Suicide: Tips for Prevention
3. New York Times – Preventing Teen Suicide: What the Evidence Shows

Youth suicide statistics: what current CDC data show

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide or is in emotional distress, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. The service is free and confidential and is open at all hours. In an emergency, call 911.

Franklin Schargel wrote in 2018 that suicide is highly preventable with young people. Youth suicide statistics have been updated many times since then, and school leaders, parents and teachers now have access to newer survey data. This section uses figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were read for this update. The numbers in the original article come from 2016 to 2018 and from several sources that were not checked, so readers who need a current figure should use the CDC sources below.

What students report

The most useful school-focused source is the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey of high school students. According to the CDC’s mental health summary of the 2023 survey, 40 percent of high school students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness, 20 percent seriously considered suicide and 9 percent attempted it. Female students and LGBTQ+ students reported more poor mental health and more suicidal thoughts and behaviors than male students and cisgender, heterosexual students. The same page notes that Asian and White students were less likely to attempt suicide than students of other races and ethnicities.

The survey also reports some encouraging changes between 2021 and 2023. Persistent sadness or hopelessness fell from 42 percent to 40 percent among all students and from 57 percent to 53 percent among female students, and suicide attempts among Black students fell from 14 percent to 10 percent. Other results moved the wrong way: bullying rose from 15 percent to 19 percent, and the share of students missing school because of safety concerns rose from 9 percent to 13 percent. These are self-reported answers from a sample of students in one year, so they show patterns and cannot predict what will happen to any one student. They also do not count deaths, which come from separate CDC death records that were not available for this update.

What is known about risk and protection

The CDC explains that suicide has no single cause. Risk is affected by factors at the level of the individual, relationships, the community and society. Individual risk factors it lists include previous attempts, depression or other mental illness, hopelessness, substance use and adverse childhood experiences. Relationship factors include bullying, loss of relationships, social isolation and high-conflict relationships. Societal factors include stigma around seeking help and easy access to lethal means.

The same page lists protective factors, which are the characteristics that may lower risk. They include effective coping and problem-solving skills, reasons for living, support from friends and family, feeling connected to others and feeling connected to school. For a school this list is useful, because connection to school and access to care are among the things a school can influence. The CDC’s survey summary also advises that schools keep all students, including students of color and LGBTQ+ students, safe and supported, and that young people have connection with supportive adults.

What school leaders can decide

• Check that the school or district has a written protocol for responding to a student at risk, that every staff member knows where it is, and that it is practiced and updated, since Schargel observed that many educators had not been trained to recognize or address the problem.
• Put the 988 number where students can find it, for example in planners and on the school website.
• Look at the school’s own data on bullying, absence and discipline, because the CDC lists bullying and isolation among the risk factors a school can address.
• Name a trained person, such as a counselor or school psychologist, to lead the response and to talk with families.
• Plan how the school will talk to students and families after a death, and ask qualified mental health professionals to advise on what is said.

Parents who are worried about a child can speak to the child directly and calmly, contact the school counselor or the child’s doctor and call or text 988 for advice. Schargel’s second part, Youth Suicide: Causes, Warnings and Tips, covers causes and warning signs. For a related look at prevention through connection, see edCircuit’s article Suicide Prevention by Enhancing Human Connections.

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