Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Figure 1: 2019 behavioral health data over the duration of a year period for Florida high school students 2019—SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR AND SELF-HARM PERCENTAGE OF FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO Total Male Female Black Hispanic White felt sad or hopeless for more than two weeks in a row 33.7 24.2 43.4 30.8 33.9 34.4 seriously considered attempting suicide 15.6 10.9 20.2 13.1 14.3 17.2 made a plan to attempt suicide 11.8 8.2 15.5 10.9 10.9 12.1 attempted suicide 7.9 6.0 9.6 9.5 7.6 6.9 Incidence of Youth Suicide: Florida Middle School Students Like high school students, Florida middle school students also receive a behavioral health survey that captures suicidal behavior. Florida is one of the few states to gather middle school data. The 2019 data shows that middle school students may be just as at risk for suicide as Florida high school students (Florida Health, 2019). Unfortunately, the trend shows steep increases over the past two years, as 21.6 percent of middle school students reported they seriously contemplated suicide over their lifetime in 2019 compared to the 16.8 percent reported in 2017 (see Figure 2). In 2019, 13.9 percent of middle school students reported making a suicide a plan over their lifetime and 8.4 percent reported a previous suicide attempt. In regard to high school students, the middle school data is difficult to compare because the middle school survey asks for lifetime prevalence versus a 12-month prevalence. For more information about middle school data, visit floridahealth.gov /statistics-and-data/survey-data/2019MiddleScho olSummaryTables.pdf . Florida S.T.E.P.S.