By: Sarah Sabino '21
Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers student, took his own life in 2010 after pictures of him kissing another man got leaked to Twitter. Mallory Grossman, a 12-year-old middle school student, took her own life after facing relentless bullying at school and online. These tragedies are not isolated cases; teen suicide is on the rise.
Over the past 20 years, teen suicide rates have reached an all-time high. According to Katie Hurley, a licensed clinical social worker, the annual percentage spiked up to 10% in 2014 and 2017. This devastating statistic has opened people‘s eyes about teen suicide. The signs, the causes, the risks. Suicide is usually a taboo topic that doesn’t get talked about enough. It may be an emotional subject but it’s important to be educated on teen suicide to prevent it.
Adolescents, in general, seem to be more suicide-prone than any other age group, but there are certain teens who are more at risk. Teens such as LGBT teens, teens with a history of suicide in their family, teens with mental illness, teens who experience an immense amount of academic pressure, teens with low-self esteem. Unfortunately, many adults overlook and dismiss some of the issues adolescents go through, not realizing that these issues can end up being fatal.
It can be difficult to tell how a teen is feeling, especially if they don’t really talk about their feelings. Some indirect warning signs are mood swings, isolation, giving away prized possessions, loss of interest in activities/hobbies they used to enjoy, direct and indirect notions of saying goodbye, and so on. According to Mrs. Leibowitz, Student Assistant Counselor (SAC), “The number one stressor that students come to me with is school, in the sense of getting good grades and feeling pressured to do well in school in order to have a future, that often induces anxiety.”
When a student comes to our SAC exhibiting these warning signs and Mrs. Leibowitz determines that they are at risk of suicide, there are steps she takes to help them. “If I am concerned, I do what is called a “screening”. It is called the “Columbia”. I do an abridged version of it that helps me determine if a student is low, medium, or high risk for suicide. And after I’m done screening a student and I see that they are at medium or high risk, I inform their parents. Parents have to come and pick their child up from school and they have to go to receive a mental health evaluation from an outside mental health professional,” she explains. Mrs. Leibowitz only has to break confidentiality when a student is unsafe, such as when the student self-harms, exhibits suicidal tendencies, reports being abused, or threatens another student’s physical well-being. “Safety always comes before privacy,” she explains.
Teens who experience suicidal thoughts, depression, or anxiety, often feel as though they are alone. It is important to let them know that they aren’t. There are hotlines devoted to suicide prevention, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). There is also an online chat, https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ where teens can go for support. Here at Dunellen High School, Mrs. Leibowitz’s office is always open for any student, any time. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about mental health, a student could just be having a bad day and she is there for support. Any student that is struggling with suicidal thoughts can reach out for help both in school with Mrs. Leibowitz or any of the sources supplied.
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