Suicide rates for black children ages 5 to 12 exceeded white children

For hundreds of years, this type of data has never been reported.  Historically, Black people in the United States have survived the worse types of conditions known to mankind.  From slavery to Jim Crow, we’ve come out bruised and scarred but never broken.  Now, the latest report from the CDC is reporting an alarming trend among African American children in the U. S.   The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is reporting, from 2001-2015, black children took their own lives at twice the rate of their white counterparts.

Many African Americans in this country can sadly admit to knowing children and families who have suffered the loss of a child, by their own hands.  Also, many African Americans have had discussions among ourselves as to what could be going on?  In these discussions, we talk about how ‘kids these days’ have more than any other generation, how they have access to unlimited information, and how they have the opportunity to go anywhere, do anything, and be anything they want.  Yet, this still doesn’t seem to be enough; these children are abusing themselves and taking their own lives at staggering rates.  We also discuss the many times we were bullied at some point in our own childhoods and dealt with it, but the kids today can’t seem to handle things when they get tough.   We believe that somewhere between our generation and their generation, kids have gotten soft – or perhaps more insecure.  We honestly have no answers.

According to the JAMA report, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio found that suicide rates for black children ages 5 to 12 exceeded white children, and the results were seen in both girls and boys.  Historically, despite the violent history of abuse and unfair treatement in this country, suicide has rarely been a factor for black people until the last two decades.  Suicide rates in the U.S. have been higher for whites historically, in all age groups and it still remains this way for 13 to 17 year olds.   White teens commit suicide at a 50 percent higher rate than blacks once they get into their later teen years.

One child 12 or younger dying by suicide every five days

The problem of teen suicide is no longer a “white issue”, and black parents along with white parents have to continue to understand why teenagers who should be enjoying their childhood, are taking their own lives.  Jeffrey Bridge, an epidemiologist from the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research explains, “We can’t assume any longer that suicide rates are uniformly higher in white individuals than black.  There is this age-related disparity, and now we have to understand the underlying reasons; Most of the previous reserach has largely concerned white suicide.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,300 kids from ages as low as five years old to twelve, took their own lives in the U.S.   That’s one kid between ages five through twelve dying from suicide every five days from 1999 to 2015; and the rates are accelerating.  Unfortunately, this data does not include the child’s location and/or socioeconomic status; the study also gave no context for the reasons for each suicide.

More research in 2017 by Jeffrey Bridge and his colleagues took a deeper dive into what may be going on with these children.  In the age groups of 5 to 11 and 12 to 14 together, researchers found it was more likely for African American males who dealt with stressful home situations, along with relationships at home and with friends, to be a major cause of suicide.  Also,  many of the children who committed suicide had been diagnosed with mental health issues at their time of death. These children were also, at some point diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.  Many of the suicides of young, black adolescents were also kids who had relationship problems with a boyfriend or girlfriend; these children also had high rates of depression according to the study from the Journal for Pediatrics.

Samoon Ahmad, Psychiatrist and clinical associate professor at NYU School of Medicine, was not involved with the research, but was able to give some cultural incite to a growing problem.  He stated:

“To me, the 5-12 age range is more related to developmental issues and the possible lack of a family network, social network and cultural activities.  With the introduction of social media, there is more isolation with children, and not as much neighborhood play.  Kids are more socially in their own vacuum.”

Unfortunately, the research being done has not given much direction on possible solutions or things we can do as a community to fix this problem.  Hopefully, parents are working on paying more attention to a child who may have the potential to harm themselves.  Also, the hope is if parents are allowing doctors to place their children on medication, then they should also be just as easily convinced to seek out mental health counseling for these children.

Source : Washington Post, JAMA, Center for Suicide Prevention and Research, Center for Disease Control