King, Keith A. “Practical Strategies for Preventing Adolescent Suicide.”

In the last 10 years, “…the number of hospital encounters and admissions for suicide attempts and suicide ideation in young persons more than doubled…” This quote shows the critical rise in suicide attempts in adolescents, serving as an exemplar as to just how prevalent suicide has become in American society, the lack of prevention measures contributing to the rise in numbers.
Suicide has become a prominent aspect of American society. According to Mary Nierengarten, though not exclusively associated to adolescents, suicide rates have steadily been on the rise, “…there was a rise in both suicide ideation and attempts in all age groups and both sexes, adolescents aged between 15 and 17 years and those aged 12 to 14 years had the greatest increase…”These statistics show how little knowledge we as a country have regarding the mental states of youths, and how pivotal it is to find new ways to help and prevent adolescent suicide.

Having the ability to identify warning signs and intervene before a child attempts suicide is crucial, “early detection of depression and suicidal warning signs is critical to effective intervention. Students need to be encouraged to become more proactive in their personal mental health as well as that of their peers” Peers being able to identify warning signs of depression and suicide as well as teachers is another way to identify and prevent suicide before a child reaches that point of no return. Every year, thousands of suicide attempts are made, yet prevention and intervention measures are hardly visible, “researchers estimate that for each completed youth suicide, there are approximately 100 to 200 suicide attempts, resulting in more than 80,000 attempts each year”
This statistic is astounding and horrific, with little to no effort being put towards suicide prevention, thousands suffer in silence.