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Its true what they say: anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
Although most of the recent public attention on suicide has focused on physician-assisted death, youth suicide remains a grave national problem. The suicide rate for adolescents 15-19 years of age has quadrupled in the last 40 years; suicide is now the second leading cause of death among people in this age group. Even more disturbing are the results of the national school-based Youth Risk Survey, sponsored by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The survey indicated that 27 percent of all American high school students thought seriously about committing suicide in 1990; 8 percent of all students actually attempted suicide; and 2 percent of all students sustained injuries in the course of a suicide attempt serious enough to warrant medical attention. Each year over a quarter of a million high school students make at least one suicide attempt requiring hospitalization—a staggering figure.
How can educators reduce youth suicide? The CDC concluded its study by recommending a variety of strategies, including educating youths about the warning signs of suicide and about the availability of suicide prevention services. The recommendation is consistent with the 1989 Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide.
[E]fforts to reduce suicide by improving the general coping skills of high risk youth—e.g., helping youth to recognize and talk about their feelings, ask for help when needed, identify how and where to get help for oneself and others—should be beneficial in preventing a wide range of problem behaviors. (38)
And yet given the pervasiveness of suicidal thinking and the need for public education, self-inflicted death remains a tabooed subject inside and outside of the classroom. It is easy to understand why students may feel uncomfortable talking about suicide; but it is less easy to understand why literature teachers are reluctant to bring up the subject, especially