It is painful when the older bury the younger with the pain being exacerbated when the elders either blame themselves or feel the death could have been avoided . The suicide of school going children has become a serious issue relating to modern education in America. Traditionally, suicide was rarely a children’s issue neither was it a common American issue. Americans would be surprised to hear of high suicide prevalences in other cultures such as the Japanese culture where death by suicide is considered an honorable death. In the 20 th century, however, incidences of suicide begun to rise buoyed by the proliferation of mental illnesses (Holmes, 2017) . This dangerous trend then got worse when the age threshold for suicide continued to reduce until suicide became a real issue for children who are barely pubescent. Eventually, incidences of suicide among adolescents in school became alarming and had to be addressed directly by the American Psychology Association (APA) (Stewart et al. , 2015) . Based on available research, suicide in school going adolescents is mainly relating to an underlying psychological problem that may or may not be associated with substance abuse.
Problems
Causes
According to the APA, suicide is almost always associated with an underlying psychological disorder. In most cases, suicide is a manifestation of the psychological issue or disorder or an effect of its poor management (May & Klonsky, 2016) . An overwhelming majority of adolescents will undergo mild or acute suicide ideation. In most cases, this ideation is innocent and may not create an actual suicide risk. An important event in the life of the teenager may then happen that will transform the ideation into the intention of self-harm or suicide (Miller et al. , 2017) . From a school setting, bullying, harassment by peers or teacher whether real or imagined, peer pressure, and social media are some of the sources of the events that may transform intent into suicidal ideation. From a home setting, issues such as parental divorce or domestic abuse, harassment by peers or local gangs, eating disorders, death in the family, and poverty may also introduce intent into mere suicide ideation (May & Klonsky, 2016; Miller et al. , 2017) .
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Prevalence of the Problem
As reflected by the chart above developed using data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide problem has been on the rise for both boys and girls since 2005. It is also clear that the current surge in the number of suicides the second surge with the first one climaxing in the early 1990s. The main difference between the current surge and the one in the early 1990s is that the earlier surge was predominantly among the boys while the current surge is in both genders. A common factor is that suicide has always been prominent among adolescent boys than among adolescent girls with the number of boys being almost double the number of girls. A careful analysis of the events associated with the two surges seem to relate to and introduce the aspect of substance abuse as a bearing factor to the problem of suicide among adolescents.
The Substance Abuse Perspective
A common factor that can be available both at home and in school is the introduction of substance abuse into the problem. There exists a cause and effect relationship between substance abuse and the intent to commit suicide. A student who becomes addicted to narcotics or prescription drugs can be pushed by the drug problem to commit suicide. On the other hand, a student undergoing one of the issues indicated above may decide to take drugs to alleviate the problem (May & Klonsky, 2016) . The use of drugs to try and numb the problem may have the opposite effect and create the intent to commit suicide. Traditionally, the drug abuse problem was not common amongst the young people until the advent of crack cocaine in the late 1980s. As per the chart above, it is around the time when adolescents used crack cocaine the most that suicide rates were highest. A concerted war on drugs turned the tide in the 1990s which seemed to affect suicide rates. The second surge since 2005 can coincide with the increase in the abuse of prescription drugs which has become a pandemic among American adolescents (Holmes, 2017; Lopez, 2017) . The statistical correlation between substance abuse and suicide rates leads to the hypothesis that it is substance abuse that is driving suicide rates among American teens. With this understanding, it is possible to create a cost-effective solution for the suicide problem in American education.
Potential Solution
The potential solution herein is based on a positive and negative input. The positive input relates to the availing of counseling for all children who have a potential to commit suicide. The negative input includes the elimination of drugs in the lives of adolescents through sensitization and education.
Early Detection and Extenuation
The American Psychology Association has given a list of noticeable signs common in almost 90% of all adolescents who will commit suicide. These signs include the loss of a close family member, observable change in personality, talking about dying, change in sleep patterns, low self-esteem, hopelessness, change in eating habits, and erratic behavior (Stewart et al. , 2015) . If routine counseling is undertaken upon these children when these signs are noticed either by a teacher or by a peer, eventual suicide may be prevented . Modern adolescent level schools have thousands of students and it may be hard for a teacher or staff member to notice these signs. However, after every suicide, a fellow student will come out and say that they had noticed one or more of these signs. If the children are sensitized, and an anonymous way of reporting such signs is introduced , school counselors can be able to intervene and prevent the escalation of the problem into a suicide.
Elimination of the Substance Abuse Problem
Substance abuse in itself is not a serious problem for adolescents as far as suicide is concerned. It is worthy of notice that between 1995 and 2005, substance abuse was still a problem in America but adolescent suicide numbers were on the decline. The main problem, therefore, is substance abuse that is targeted at adolescents. Crack cocaine in the 1990s and prescription drugs in the modern times are substance abuse issues that are specifically addressed to adolescents. The solution to this problem lies in the street vendor who in most cases is as much a victim of the drug abuse as the abusers themselves. If the street vendors around schools and family neighborhoods are identified , apprehended, and rehabilitated, the substance abuse problem will move away from school thus, mitigating in the school adolescent suicide problem (Lopez, 2017) .
Summary and Conclusion
The rate of suicides among school-going adolescents in America is on the rise and must be stemmed . From a historical perspective, suicide among adolescents is a relatively new concept, but has been on the rise since the 1970s. Its initial surge was mostly among boys and was stemmed in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, since 2005, a second surge has been taking place. Statistics show a close correlation between substance abuse and suicide among American adolescents. Combined with the expert opinion from the APA, it is clear that substance abuse is like a fuel that moves students from mere suicidal ideation into the actual intent to harm themselves and even commit suicide. Underlying the substance abuse is the psychological issue or problem that caused the initial suicide ideation. A double-pronged approach that eliminates the suicide ideation through counseling then prevent drugs from reaching students through the elimination of street vendors can be a fitting solution to the instant problem. Further research is, however , necessary to provide a better understanding of the problem and a more refined solution to it .
References
Holmes, L. (2017, August 04). Suicide rates for teen boys and girls are climbing. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/suicide-rates-teen-girls_us_59848b64e4b0cb15b1be13f4
Lopez, G. (2017, August 01). How to stop the deadliest drug overdose crisis in American history. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/1/15746780/opioid-epidemic-end
May, A. M., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). What distinguishes suicide attempters from suicide ideators? A meta ‐ analysis of potential factors. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice , 23 (1), 5-20
Miller, A. B., Eisenlohr-moul, T., Giletta, M., Hastings, P. D., Rudolph, K. D., Nock, M. K., & Prinstein, M. J. (2017). A Within-person approach to risk for suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior: Examining the roles of depression, stress, and abuse exposure. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 85 (7), 712-722
Stewart, J. G., Kim, J. C., Esposito, E. C., Gold, J., Nock, M. K., & Auerbach, R. P. (2015). Predicting suicide attempts in depressed adolescents: Clarifying the role of disinhibition and childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Affective Disorders , 187 , 27-34
