1 in 5 California 9th graders contemplated suicide, survey finds

SAN FRANCISCO — The number of students in California public schools who reported that they considered committing suicide within the past year is disturbing—nearly 1 in every 5 students in grades 9, 11, and non-traditional classes, according to the 2011-13 results of a statewide survey.

While higher percentages of female students reported contemplating suicide (22 percent), versus male students (14 percent), substantially more males die from suicide, according to Kidsdata.org of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.

Of the 452 young people ages 15-24 in California who were known to have committed suicide in 2013, nearly 80 percent were male.

When divided by race, youth suicides were proportionate to the overall racial makeup of the state, with the exception of white youth, who make up 27 percent of the state’s population but 42 percent of youth suicides, and Hispanic/Latino youth, who make up 52 percent of the state’s population but 36 percent of youth suicides.
In 2013, suicide was the nation’s second leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 to 24. Between 2011-2013, California’s youth suicide rate was 7.7 per 100,000 youth ages 15-24, lower than the national figure of 11.1 per 100,000 during the same period, but stubbornly high for a preventable public health problem.

Related Data:

• Suicidal Ideation (Student Reported), by Grade Level
  • by Gender and Grade Level
  • by Level of Connectedness to School
  • by Race/Ethnicity
• Number of Youth Suicides, by Age
  • by Gender
  • by Race/Ethnicity
• Youth Suicide Rate

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