Teenage suicide is back in the headlines, as it has been many times. In 1913, authorities variously blamed these “tragedies of childhood” on moral decay, harsh schooling, feminism, “cheap theaters,” “pessimistic literature,” and “sensational stories.” In 1927, a “wave” of college suicides was attributed to newly cynical, materialistic youth.
In the 1980s, analyses of national vital statistics reports revealed that suicide rates among teenagers “tripled” since the 1950s, inciting dire reports by health interests and news media. Frightening ads featuring grieving parents by gravestones to recruit more teenaged patients to fill beds in overbuilt psychiatric hospitals (a scam blasted by the American Psychological Association). Tipper Gore, wife of then-senator Al Gore, launched a crusade blaming teen suicide on metal and punk musicians like Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, and Judas Priest. Ignored were studies showing the issue was not a unique teen suicide increase, but a past undercount; modern forensics was identifying more suicides among the types of deaths once ruled "accidents."
