Sharing – New federal data show a decline in teen suicide
While our leaders have been running around trying to pass new laws to protect teens from social media, smartphones, adult content, and ideology, an interesting thing has been happening:
A new report of an annual federal survey shows that depression episodes and suicidality among teens went down between 2021 and 2024. But one in ten teens still thought seriously about suicide in the past year.
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/30/nx-s1-5483846/new-federal-data-show-a-decline-in-teen-suicide
It turns out that teens with safe places to talk about mental health and better access to resources are helped. There is still a lot of work to be done to close the gap between teens who need help and those who can get it, but this is the work that makes a difference in the lives of everyone when it comes to mental health. It’s also hard work. None of the possible reasons for the lower rate discussed in the article are overnight solutions. They take time, money, work, and dedication. Putting a warning label on the internet is easy, but it’s not clear that it has any effect.
Will we take this improvement as a sign to invest more in connecting teens to resources, or continue to look for easy, cheap solutions? Teen lives depend on how society chooses.
