School Violence Statistics | Bullying, Self-Harm & Teen Suicide
Know the Numbers
“The researchers found that teenagers who showed greater connectivity, or interconnectedness… were less likely to experience pandemic-related depression and anxiety.”
Stanford University
Steps Towards Resolving the School Violence Crisis
The pandemic shutdown has led to increased isolation and denied students the opportunity to build vital emotional skills. And even before COVID, many young people were not learning these critical life strategies. The result of this deficit is visible in our schools and society, as indicated by the mental health statistics and school violence statistics provided here.
Understanding and managing our own emotions, making good decisions, and interacting positively and appropriately with others are learned behaviors. This is the crux of our programs here at Rachel’s Challenge. We incorporate learning around self-esteem, and positive mental health- we call it mental fitness- as a pathway to reduce school violence.
Rachel’s Challenge is a proactive intervention focused on the prevention of harassment, isolation, violence, and self-harm in our schools.
We provide age-appropriate K-12 assemblies, live and digital trainings, and support materials focused on social emotional learning and mental health. We go straight to the root of the problem: students’ hearts, and their learned behaviors.
After Rachel’s Challenge, schools report less harassment and isolation. They see bullying incidents go down and disciplinary referrals decrease. Eight school shootings (that we know of) have been averted, and students, parents and educators report more than 150 suicides prevented annually.
Suicide and Self-Harm
A Preventable Disaster
School violence statistics show suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10-24. And, it’s preventable.
The teen suicide statistics are alarming. Pre-COVID (2019) numbers from the CDC show that 18.8% of High School students have seriously contemplated suicide; 8.9% have actually attempted it. Post-COVID preliminary data suggests an increase of several times may be likely.
In another recent national survey, 1 out of 6 teens had seriously considered taking their own life.
“Youth who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in suicide- related behaviors”
U.S. Center for Disease Control
Making Kindness Cool
Our programs are designed to speak directly to the suicide and self-harm prevention strategies identified by the CDC. We provide concrete, positive, and proactive ways of shifting social norms, creating a peer movement away from bullying, toward compassion.
Translation: We make Kindness cool. To read the CDC’s report on the relationship between bullying and suicide, including their recommendations, download the PDF.
