Lessening or Remedying the Problem.

¶ … lessening or remedying the problem. Teenaged suicide is rapidly becoming one of the biggest problems facing teens today. Growing national interest in teen suicide began in the 1980s when teen suicides began making the news in far greater numbers. Teen suicide must be acknowledged, and then better plans must be created to not only deal with the aftermath of teen suicide in the family and in the schools, but in recognizing the inevitable signs leading to suicide in teens, too.

Suicide by teenagers is a social problem facing the nation. Families all over the country are coping with depressed and angry children, and turning to the schools and social service agencies for help and understanding. One writer called teen suicide, "an emotional cancer at the heart of our 'successful society,' but it has remained, for the most part, a hidden silent crisis" (Portner, 2001, pg. vii-viii). Much research has shown the problem affects boys more than girls and those with ethnic backgrounds even more so. However, girls tend to "attempt" suicide more often than boys do. The problem exists for a number of reasons. Most teens who commit suicide have some form of mental problem or diagnosis, and many are depressed or hopeless (Davis, 1999, pg. 119). Thus, it seems all teens are at risk at one time or another, and so, society must work harder to discover the signs of suicide in teens, and help teens with their problems before they reach suicide levels.

While it seems teen suicide has only been prevalent in the news in the last two decades or so, that is not the case. Teen suicide has been a societal problem for generations. As these experts note, "Suicide and other forms of tragic death in children are not a new concern. An international psychiatric conference in the 1800s in Europe paid considerable attention to child suicide" (Deaton & Berkan, 1995, p. 3). In addition, some material written as early as the 1770s was deemed responsible for numbers of youthful suicides in Europe. While teenage suicide has always been present in society, it has increased in the last half of the 20th century, and some studies show it was the leading cause of death in children during the 1990s. Clearly, the problem is not new, but it seems to have been growing in numbers in the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st.

The current status of the problem seems to show that some suicide rates have lowered, specifically for white children. "However, although reports of suicide attempts among White high school students decreased by 15% between 1991 and 1999, there was a 14% increase in attempts among African-American adolescents within this same time period" (O'Donnell, O'Donnell, Wardlaw & Stueve, 2004). Another, earlier research study found, a "survey of seven thousand high school students throughout the United States found that close to 2% of older adolescents make suicide attempts, serious enough to warrant treatment by a medical practitioner each year. This translates into one-half million teen suicide attempts each year" (Davis, 1999, p. 119). This is quite a number of suicides and attempts in the teen population, and the problem seems to be growing, especially in certain populations. The problem has also quadrupled since 1950 (Schwartzberg, 1998, pg. 82), and if those results continue, it seems the problem will only get worse in the next five to ten years, unless more measures are taken in the home and in the schools to recognize and prevent teen suicides. Jessica Porner's book "One in Thirteen" takes the title from the number of teens who attempt suicide every year. The implications for teens are clear, more face the danger of succumbing to teen suicide, but the implications for society are also clear. If we lose more teens to suicide, the working and youthful population of our country could diminish, and birth rates could even fall. This could spell enormous problems for society as a whole, leaving generations of older workers who do not as actively add to a number of important items in society, from beginning new families, to creating new and innovative ideas and methodologies. Clearly, losing a growing number of teens to suicide has many implications for society in the future.

Many solutions have been enacted and attempted in the past, from social programs and policy, to legislation in the federal Congress to create more resources to fight teen suicide. The newest bill is titled the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, after an Oregon congressman's son who killed himself in his college dorm room. The Act was passed in September 2004, and will become law as soon as the President signs it. According to the Tennessee lawmaker who helped create the act, it "provides grants for states to develop youth suicide prevention and intervention programs. States would then be required to distribute at least 85% of the federal funding to education systems, juvenile justice systems, local governments and non-profit organizations that focus on suicide prevention and intervention" (Gordon, 2004). In addition to legal measures, most communities have created suicide prevention programs that reach out to local teens, and most schools now have programs and counselors trained in recognizing the symptoms of suicide, and offering solutions to family, friends, and the children themselves. Other experts note, "A variety of responses, including counseling services and memorials, were conducted in immediate response to a suicide. Next, short workshops designed to stop teen suicide through providing factual information were conducted for students and in-service training was conducted for teachers" (Deaton & Berkan, 1995, p. 1). Thus, trainings and information has been developed and shared, but more needs to be done.

With the increased awareness of teen suicide, more studies have been conducted, and more programs and policies have been adopted. One study created the "Expendable Child Measure" (ECM) that is a list of twelve questions psychologists and social workers can use to measure several risk factors in a child, including their feelings of depression, hopelessness, expendability to their family, and being a burden to those around them ((Schwartzberg, 1998, pg. 85). In addition to legal measures, most communities have created suicide prevention programs that reach out to local teens, and most schools now have programs and counselors trained in recognizing the symptoms of suicide, and offering solutions to family, friends, and the children themselves. Legislation is also currently ready for signing by the President that will give additional funding to states for suicide programs and prevention, and more schools are adding social and psychological programs all the time that are aimed at preventing and assessing teen suicide.

One of the new initiatives is the Smith Memorial Act, and it seems certain that local governments will continue to follow this trend and fund other programs to help diagnose and prevent teen suicide. These initiatives continue because the problem continues, and many past solutions simply do not seem to be alleviating the problem. Another researcher notes,

Prevention programs aimed at teen suicides have shown little effectiveness. The belief in the generic nature of teen suicide -- as an "intrinsic risk" of adolescence or as residing in the personality or lack of coping skills of the victim -- ignores underlying causes: lack of security for children and youth in families; social rejection of differences; poor supervision; inadequate treatment; and blaming the victim by adult labelers (Davis, 1999, p. 120).

While many schools have adopted programs to help and recognize suicidal students, many schools still do not have programs, and lack the funding to aggressively create these programs. In addition, many people believe schools are not the place for these issues, and the family is the best place to begin prevention programs.

It is clear a comprehensive and detailed proposal needs to be developed to deal more effectively with the many facets of teen suicide. To reduce teen suicide, society at large needs to understand the problem and work together toward a more viable solution. Society must create more funding for suicide prevention and diagnosis, and families should have the ability to become more educated and aware about the many identifiable factors that can be recognized before a child takes their own life. While it is clear that no societal problem this large can be totally eradicated, it can be decreased, and more public understanding and awareness can help manage the problem more effectively.

Part of the problem with current management of teen suicide is that not all facets of society are directly involved. All five facets, including family, church, school, government, and the economy should be utilized for the most effective management, but that is not the case. Many times, families are the "last to know" their children are suicidal. All American families should know the various indicators for suicide, and these could easily be communicated through school mailers, national advertising, and local social programs. Studies have shown that "family closeness" helps reduce suicidal feelings and attempts (Wardlaw, 2004, pg. 37), so it is clear that the family must be heavily involved in the prevention process. The problem is still being ignored by a vast number of people, and ignoring it will not make it go away. The church must be involved in the education of its youth, too, because studies have shown that strong religious background reduces the risk of suicide in some youths, particularly African-Americans and Latinos (Wardlaw, 2004, pg. 37). Schools must develop programs that are more comprehensive for students and for counselors and psychologists, and they must create more funding for these programs to protect their students from harm. Journalist Portner continues, "In fact, a quarter of the deaths on school grounds are suicides" (Portner, 2001, pg. 48). Clearly, the school is heavily involved in the welfare of the child, and to ignore this is to put children at risk. The government must recognize this too, and do more to create funding for schools and local government to create more programs. This may mean raising taxes in some areas, but parents should understand taxes are a small price to pay for children's lives. The program would include getting all of these facets of society involved in a cohesive plan to education families, church organizers, and school professionals in the danger signals of suicide, and what to do to get help right away. More public awareness is the key to reducing this problem, and more public awareness can be created by advertising, school and church involvement, and educating parents in the many facets of this problem.

Clearly, funding is one of the critical issues to make this proposal work. Grants are one way to obtain national funding. Grants from healthcare, children's advocates, and the Federal Government are all sources of funds. On the local level, many advocates fund suicide prevention centers, and appealing to these sources could provide funds for the program, too. Initial costs would be advertising, mailings, and creating more local programs for awareness and understanding. As the program developed, fundraisers could also be established, similar to the national "Jerry Lewis Telethon," or local and national Public Broadcasting fundraisers. Creating more public awareness would certainly add to the funds available, and to the funds donated. In addition, schools and churches could solicit volunteers to educate, meet with parents and professionals, and work at educating other parents. All of these methods take time, but as the program grew, so would awareness, and hopefully the inclination for more people to get involved in solving the problem.