Public education and self harm

On average 640 Utahns die from suicide a year, as a result Utah is in the top 10 states for highest suicide rates in the country. According to research done back in 2020 suicide is the second leading cause of death in Utah.

According to Michael Stanley, a suicide prevention research coordinator for UDOH, there are about 50-70 deaths by suicide a month. This data is consistent with numbers going back to 2015. Since the pandemic started the suicide rates have stayed high, but they haven’t increased.

In Utah, for people ages 10-17 the number one cause of death is suicide. We have seen this tragedy happen very recently with 10-year-old Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor. Izzy had autism and she was African American, both these things led her to be bullied at school, the bullying became so much for Izzy that she took her own life because of it.

The Utah Department of Health stated that youth suicide rates have tripled over the last decade. There are many reasons these teens are committing suicide: bullying, discrimination, and social media; these are just some of the many reasons behind these acts of desperation.

Schools need to prioritize  the bullying that has happened in schools, especially in the Davis District. Davis School District is under investigation for the harassment of students of color. People who commit suicide do it as a last resort, they have gone through so much and have no way to help themselves.

Suicide rates are not only a problem in Utah, it’s a problem all over the U.S. but that doesn’t change the fact that Utah has one of the highest suicide rates. This might have something to do with the culture and the way people are treated based on their race, gender, and sexuality, but something that is for sure is there has to be some way to fix this problem.