Suicide has become the second-biggest cause of death among people aged 15 to 24, statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed.
Last year, 47 more people aged 15 to 24 died by suicide than in 2019, an increase of 22.4 percent, ministry data showed.
Suicides in the age group also accounted for 22.6 percent of all suicides reported last year, the sixth consecutive year that the figure increased, the data showed.
Control Yuan members Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容), Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) and Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊) said that they are investigating the cause of the increase, adding that they hope to establish a more robust suicide prevention network.
The Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center on Sept. 6 last year reported that in 2019, it received 35,324 reports of attempted suicides, with 3,864 attempts resulting in deaths.
“Is the current school counseling system not effective enough?” Fan asked.
The Control Yuan members plan to determine how school counselors can work more closely with national and regional suicide prevention centers, and whether the number of suicide prevention volunteers in each region is adequate to meet area demand, Fan added.
“Improving suicide prevention measures is something that society must come together on as a whole,” she said. “You need families, companies, schools — all of these networks — to come together so that people have diverse channels for getting the resources they need.”
Taiwan could take a cue from Japan, where officials hold a week of events each year starting on Sept. 10 — which is World Suicide Prevention Day — to increase public awareness, Fan said.
Over the week, there are public service announcements, which Japanese celebrities are invited to host, she added.
“Since 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has produced books to improve suicide prevention among young people,” she said.
Young people spend most of their time at home and at school, so parents’ ability to recognize emotional distress in their children must be improved, she said.
A high-school student has initiated a petition calling for psychology classes at junior and senior-high schools, in addition to health classes, and the petition has rapidly reached the second stage, she said.
“Improving parents’ and schools’ understanding of psychological issues is something that cannot be put off,” she said.
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