Running Head: TEEN SUICIDE 1

The Epidemic Raging through the United States: Teen Suicide*

Morganne P. Grutsch

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Word Count = xxx

*Morganne P. Grutsch. 17341 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha NE 68130

mpgrutsch@unomaha.edu
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The Epidemic Raging through the United States: Teen Suicide

Suicide is far more common than many people think, especially in adolescents.

While most agree that suicide is a tragic and unfortunate incidence, the public still

generally condemns the act. Although suicide rates have always been a prominent issue

in American society, the public still hides the facts and chooses to avoid the conversation

at all costs in schools and in the media. Unfortunately in the past few decades the rates of

adolescent suicides have been growing dramatically, in one 2013 study, 17% of 9-12

graders admitted to seriously considering suicide (The Best Schools 2018). If that many

young people feel that ending their life is the best option, clearly the issue needs to be

addressed more in schools, and some educators and activists are using this as a calling to

bring the issue to the forefront of conversation. Why are so many adolescents turning to

self-destruction, and what are schools going to do to confront this?

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The Epidemic Raging through the United States: Teen Suicide

In the past decade, despite a more progressive view on mental health and

depression, teen suicide remains a growing problem. The statistics are rising

dramatically, “among those ages 15-24 increased by a startling 24% between 1999 and

2014 and for those between 10-14, a heartbreaking 200%” but what is being done to

confront these intense statistics? (The Best Schools 2018). “While it is probably true that

most people who try or commit suicide are depressed, it is not true that all depressed

people are suicide. A sociological understanding of suicide requires more information”

especially in teen suicide looking at the risk factors, evidence of bullying and harassment,

as well as unanswered calls for help on social media (Meier and Clinard 2016). The

adolescent brain, because the frontal lobe is not fully developed, can be unable to handle

the stress and rationally understand how problems relate in the scope of the big picture.

68% of those who had seriously considered suicide started doing so in high school or

even younger, which is why it is so important for schools to make a better effort in

suicide prevention education (Swanbrow 2017). Because of the increase in adolescent

suicides, more research has been done, and more media attention has been brought to the

issue, how are educators responding to the increased coverage of the growing epidemic in

teenage suicide, and what else can they do to help prevent future suicide attempts?

SUICIDE IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Now is the digital age, a time where information is at everyone’s fingertips.

Whether with a quick Google search, or by typing someone’s name into Facebook,

thousands of search results, pictures, and data is available to anyone about almost
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anything. Although this technology can be extremely useful and makes so many lives and

jobs easier, how is this time of instant gratification affecting the younger generation?

These days everyone has research and opinions on Millennials, the selfie-loving, tech-

enthusiast generation growing up with growing technology, but what about the younger

generation, Generation Z, where technology and social media has always been an

influencing factor? As this generation is reaching adolescence, they have to

“navigate this new, difficult climate during an already strained period of

emotional development, will be restless and insecure, craving perpetual instant
validation from a wide and mysterious sea of peers. These concerns apply equally
to the popular and the bullied, to the jocks and the geeks. It’s a new world”
(Dickey 2014).

Many believed that increased time on the Internet and social media is damaging the

younger generations’ abilities to build foundational skills of relationships and

conversation.

Cyber Bullying

The negative affects of social media are emphasized greatly in the context of teen

suicide risk factors. High school is an already hard enough time with the “pressure to

succeed, to compete, or to simply fit in” and social media cyber bullying does nothing to

help that pressure (The Best Schools 2018). With the multitude of different social media

platforms, hours and hours of time can be dedicated to the anonymous “hallway” culture;

you can never leave. Traditional bullying, harassment, and name-calling ends as you go

home, but with cyber bullying on social media, it never ends. Jack Dickey states,

“findings in neuroscience have shown how the developing teen brain is ill equipped to

override emotional reactions,” and with constant engagement on smart phones and social
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media “the fragile and self-destructive minds have a tool to indulge their worst

tendencies” (Dickey 2014).

Social media and the anonymity of chat rooms thrive on the cruelty of young

people, with very little censorship. Although app and website creators do have

monitoring systems that suspend and ban users for inappropriate comments and cyber

bullying, there is no feasible way to catch every instance. Well-known parenting book

writer, Rosalind Wiseman describes the savagery of cyber bullying perfectly “It creates a

culture among kids that slander, backstabbing, and libel are normal parts of human

interaction. It normalizes the dehumanization of others” (Dickey 2014). This

“dehumanization of others” is exactly why the tools of anonymity on the Internet are so

dangerous to the adolescent brain with the lack of impulse control and inability to cope

and “evaluate their immediate difficulties in the perspective of lifelong events” (Meier

and Clinard 2016). Responsibility falls teachers, parents, and older generations to educate

young people to value life over the negative experiences of the digital world.

INCREASED MEDIA ATTENTION

Suicide has been around for centuries, and across different cultures and countries

has been viewed differently from a respected militant sacrifice in Japan, to an act to

restore honor for virgin suicides in Islamic cultures. However, in modern western culture

suicide is still seen as a taboo, something everyone knows about and many have been

affected by, but no one wants to talk about. Recently with the increased adolescent

suicides, authors and the media have made a push to normalize the issue and spark

conversations in the public.

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For years communities and school boards have been banning books from libraries,

for having deviant topics or themes disagreeing with the conservativeness of the

community. But librarians and activists alike are campaigning against the banning of

books in schools and elsewhere claiming that students and teens have the right to

question society, learn, and be curious about what the public may view as deviant

behaviors. When speaking of suicidal themes in books specifically, research has found to

have no correlation between reading books discussing suicide and suicide behavior

(Davidson 2016). One study actually found that reading books with suicide themes or

suicidal characters actually decreased the likeliness of a future attempt, even among teens

with preexisting suicidal thoughts (Davidson 2016). Interestingly enough, the more

descriptive the depiction of suicide or self harm, the more empathy the reader was to feel

for the character, and less likely to consider their own self-destruction.

Despite what you may hear, young adults are adults too. Sometimes they die;
sometimes they know people who die. To deny YA readers the chance of finding
comfort in literature is only a comfort for those denying them, out of some
misguided pomp of moral authority. Whether they are grieving or curious about
death (or life), young adults can be reassured by the power of knowing that their
innermost feelings can be mapped on to others; that despite whatever feelings
they are feeling, it is not unimaginable that someone else (fictional or real) has
felt it too. (Davidson 2016).

Literature is a resource for students to learn, discover, cope, and escape the world around

them; it should not be censored.

Thirteen Reasons Why

The New York Times young adult best seller, turned hit Netflix series has sparked

huge movements for better suicide prevention and conversations in high schools.
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Unsurprisingly, Thirteen Reasons Why, has also been known for its controversy. Many

parent boards demanded its banning from school libraries, as well as fearing the

television show would lead to increased suicides for students watching. The story tackles

countless deviant themes in the United States youth culture, ranging from underage

drinking and driving, bullying, sexual harassment, and rape; all while depicting a young

girls unanswered call for help and eventually death by suicide.

Although there are many opponents to the story, believing it will contribute to the

growing suicide rates, one sociological theory explaining that suicide can be a learned

behavior, and people can associate attention and rewards for committing the act (Meier

and Clinard 2016). Contrastingly, Thirteen Reasons Why is actually a statement pointing

out the problems with society and schools not handling adolescent suicide effectively,

and what should be done to change that. Schools can often cultivate an environment of

secrecy and fear rather than promoting a safe place for questions, and finding comfort

and help, one of the story’s main characters, Clay says, “It has to get better … the way

we treat each other and look out for each other!” (Swanbrow 2017). Due to the story’s

increasing popularity today, now is the time for schools to implement better education

and prevention techniques in order to combat the teen suicide rates.

STEPS TOWARDS PREVENTION

Many social scientists believe that teenagers today are experiencing more

stressors than the generations before them, with increased competitiveness of college

admissions, to the pressures of social media, and constant need to live up to parent

expectations. As suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in young adults age 15-24, it
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is time to create more effective prevention techniques and education in schools (Meier

and Clinard 2016).

Most recent research has all been saying the same thing: conversation is key.

Even though the public does not want to bring light to the taboo subject, the best way to

confront the issue of suicide head on is by having these hard conversations in schools and

in the community. Many educators are starting to implement safe place programming

where students can come talk openly with guidance counselors and teachers about what is

going on in and out of the classroom. The three part article “Teen Suicide: Breaking the

Silence” explains the importance of education and awareness, while also emphasizing

how to respect students who have died by suicide, “without glorifying the suicide itself”

in an important factor into preventing future suicides (The Best Schools 2018). Teaching

students and teachers alike the signs and risk factors for someone who might be

considering taking their own life is vital for prevention. Some of the mains signs to look

for are impulsive behavior, trauma, history of abuse, substance abuse, depression, anger,

and isolation (The Best Schools 2018). The best way for schools and educators to best

combat teenage suicide, is to de-stigmatize mental health, and have students learn to be

proactively supportive of each other and knowing the importance of being present. Also

understanding the importance and signs enough to know when to get professional help

(The Best Schools 2018). Requiring more faculty and staff trainings about suicide

prevention, and allowing conversations about mental health and suicide in the classroom

are two huge steps into combatting the issue.

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Adolescent suicides are rising, and that should concern our society, but the answer

is not to hide media and discussions about mental health from students, it is the opposite.

In order to start fostering an environment of change in schools, educators have to stop

hiding this very real problem from their students. Making suicide prevention training

easier and more available to implement in schools makes “the topic less scary for

everyone to address, in part by building health, well-being, community, and resiliency

among students as early in the educational system as possible” (Swanbrow 2017). There

may never be a cure for the epidemic, but prevention begins with valuing life and

learning how to have these hard conversations and discussions by putting down the

phone, and logging off of social media.

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References

Davidson, M. (2016). LETS STOP BLAMING SUICIDE BOOKS FOR SUICIDES.

Collected Magazine, (18), 15-16.

Dickey, J. (2014). The Antisocial Network. Time, 184(1), 40-45

Meier, Robert F., and Clinard, Marshall B. 2016. Sociology of Deviant Behavior. 15th Ed.

Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.

Swanbrow Becker, M. (2017). Why Schools Need to Step Up Suicide Prevention Efforts.

Education Digest, 83 (2), 17.

The Best Schools. 2018 “Teen Suicide: Breaking the Silence.” Retrieved April 18, 2018

(https://thebestschools.org/magazine/breaking-the-silence-around-teen-suicide/).