Think back to high school for a minute. Not a week went by where you didn’t hear about drinking and driving, or that if you have unprotected sex you will get an STD or become pregnant. Now, this may just be me, but I do not recall hearing much about suicide or self-inflicted harm — do you? Judging from the lack of mental health awareness and education in my own high school, I cannot help but think that high schools across America are closing their eyes and ignoring a deficiency in mental health education.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a 2004 census reveals that suicide accounted for nearly 10 percent of deaths in individuals age 15 to 19, making it the third leading cause of death for that group, just under accidents and homicide. It is astonishing that with such prevalence among America’s youth, health courses in high school do not focus at all on mental health and suicide.

I felt like in my health class all we talked about was sex and drugs. Don’t do drugs, they’ll kill you; don’t have sex, it’ll kill you. They didn’t even touch upon the concept of you killing you. We had speakers from Planned Parenthood come to talk about all the different kinds of condoms and genital warts there are and we watched countless MTV videos regarding the negative effects of methamphetamines. We did not, however, have any class devoted to a discussion about mental health, or have a speaker come tell us about stress and anxiety or the signs and symptoms of depression. With all the time high school educators spend telling us about the dangers of drugs, it seems pretty ironic that drug use didn’t even make the chart for the top ten leading causes of death among high school-aged youth.

After a very powerful and thought-provoking speech by Heidi Bryan, founder of the Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council, I had the opportunity to ask her if she felt there was adequate mental health education and services in high schools. According to Heidi, it was nowhere near adequate. As a woman who dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts throughout her life, Heidi expressed that there was not enough awareness about such issues during her adolescence, when her depression began.

Upon entering college I realized what was missing from my high school. For the first time, places like the Counseling Center were actively engaging students and encouraging everyone to learn more about their services and to not feel ashamed about seeking help. It was strange yet refreshing to finally see people so involved with and interested in my individual well-being. Now, as the co-president of Active Minds, a national student-run mental health awareness and advocacy organization, I have become conscious of the lack of such outreach in the high school setting.

It would be hasty and unfair of me to conclude that no high schools touch upon mental health issues or try and reach out to their students. However, coming from a fairly liberal, suburban school, it is clear that mental health promotion and awareness services in high schools are sparse, and those that do exist are not well equipped or maintained. I think that it is time for the government to open their eyes and face the rising suicide rates among teens. There are millions of young individuals who struggle with depression, stress, anxiety, eating disorders and a number of other mental health issues — how long must they wait until it is okay to talk about these issues and seeking help becomes a positive thing? How much more will suicide rates increase before something is done? You can only keep your eyes closed for so long.

Joseph Fraioli is a sophomore psychology and sociology major. E-mail him at jfraiol1@ithaca.edu