Incidence of Suicide Surpasses Number Car Crash Deaths Among Middle School Students in US

A federal report issued on Thursday said that the suicide rate among US middle school students doubled from 2007 to 2014. It is the first time the tally surpassed the incidence of youngsters aged 10 to 14 who died in car accidents.

The consistent seven-year increase in suicide among middle school students, from an annual rate of middle school suicides is 0.9 to 2.1 per 100,000, came as traffic casualties among the same age group decreased to 1.9 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

The motor vehicle mortality rate reported for 2014 indicated a 60 percent drop from 1999. 2014 was the latest year for which such data was available, while 1999 was when the government started monitoring such figures.

In cumulative numbers, 425 young individuals 10 to 14 years of age took their own lives in 2014. On the other hand, 384 individuals from the same age group died in car accidents that same year, according to the CDC.

Those figures contrasted sharply with numbers from 1999. The rate of middle school students killed in car crashes that year was four times higher than the rate among those who died from suicide.

Commenting on the findings, Mark Kaplan, a professor of social welfare at the University of California reiterated that any increase in youth suicides should be of concern.

“In time we might uncover some reasons, but a cautionary note is not to rush to any conclusions from this,” Kaplan said.

The primary causes of suicide are highly complex. This makes it tough to explain the trends documented by the CDC, he added.

Accidents in General on the Rise

According to the CDC, the leading general cause of death for Americans aged 10 to 14 remains accidents of all kinds, including car crashes. This accounted for 750 fatalities in that age group in 2014,.

Mortality rates from traffic collisions among all age groups have declined over several decades in the United States. Observers attribute this, in part, to improved safety features in cars, such as airbags.

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Teen Opens Fire at South Carolina School After Killing Father

A fourteen-year-old boy killed his father then opened fire at a school playground in South Carolina on Wednesday, authorities said. The shooter wounded two students and a teacher.

Police accused the teen, whose name was not released, of fatally shooting Jeffrey DeWitt Osborne, his 47-year-old father. He then drove a pick up truck to Townville Elementary School.

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said the suspect was crying and upset when he called his grandmother’s cellphone at 1:44pm. According to the grandparents, they could not make out what he was saying so they went to the teenager’s house, which was just a hundred yards away. That’s when they discovered that their son had been shot and their grandson was gone.

Authorities received a 911 call from Townville Elementary School about a minute later.

The shooter drove a vehicle into the school parking lot and instantly started firing the moment he got out, Sheriff John Skipper said.

Tackled by firefighter

Volunteer firefighter Jamie Brock then stopped the teenager as he shot at the school.
Brock pinned down the teen while school staff led children to safety, Anderson County emergency services director Taylor Jones said.

The shooter never entered the building as police arrived within minutes to take the suspect into custody.

Immediately after the shooting, police evacuated the students from the school under armed guard. A bus took them to their waiting parents in a nearby church.

The motive of the shooting is unknown but authorities ruled out race as both the shooter and the victims were white.

A six year-old boy who was shot in the foot and a female teacher who had a shoulder wound were treated and released, said AnMed Health Medical Center Ross Norton. However, another six year-old boy, Jacob Hall, who was shot in the leg, remained in critical condition.

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