Keep your eye on prenatal cocaine exposure 3. As a mental health practitioner, I have worked with teenagers for more than 30years. Statistics show that since 1955, the teen suicide rate has risen nearly 400 percent. Between 1957 and 1987, the number of completed suicide rose 312 percent for youth between the ages of 15 and 19. And suicide death for children under age 15 are rising dramatically.
Estimates indicate more than half of high-school students have thought about suicide.
In my years of addressing the subject, I've learned that the stigma surrounding suicide is so great that some teens hesitate to ask a question or make an observation in front of their peers. I assure them that if I haven't answered their question in the course of my presentation, I will look at each card and answer all questions before I conclude. Teens respond positively to both the privacy afforded in writing out questions and the assurance that, before our time together ends, their questions will be answered. This is particularly meaningful when addressing a series of classes or groups. Word spreads fast, and when you honor your commitment to answer questions in one group, the groups that follow feel confident that they, too, will be answered.