Waltham, MA: Soaring suicide rate among local students

July 26, 2018, Waltham (MA) Wicked: How Waltham schools respond to challenge of youth suicides http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/news/20180726/how-waltham-schools-respond-to-challenge-of-youth-suicides Approximately one Waltham High School student in 23 has tried to commit suicide, and nearly one in 14 Waltham middle school students has, according to data from the city’s most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In the Waltham Public Schools, staff tackle the problem in teams, said Nadene Stein, the district’s administrator of Pupil Personnel Services…. While federal, state and private entities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on trying to understand suicide and suicide prevention, suicide attempts and deaths continue to climb…. Suicide is now a leading cause of death in the United States and -- as Wicked Local noted in an extensive report in March -- Massachusetts residents are now more likely to die by suicide than by homicides and car crashes combined…. In Waltham, there is no one cause to suicides, attempts or related mental health crises, Stein said, and students’ diverse backgrounds can include everything from academic stress to family trauma….