Youth suicide, now deeply imprinted on our national conscience, then flickered only occasionally at the margins of public consciousness. Turning to the measures of health and well-being that I considered in the report, none has shown a marked improvement over the past ten years. We are still losing the war against drugs. Crime remains a serious social problem. The epidemic of youth suicide continues.
Crime is mainly an activity of the young and especially young males.
Changes in reporting and recording crimes have contributed to this pattern of rising crime rates, but it is generally believed to reflect, in a somewhat distorted way, a real increase in crime. Suicide rates for young women, while about double the 1950s rate, have not shown the sustained rise seen in males. This does not mean youth suicide is a male problem. Young women continue to attempt suicide more often than young men, but succeed less often because they tend to use less fatal means, especially overdosing. It is likely that the rates under-estimate the increase in suicidal behaviour among young people in recent decades.