A report into the health and well-being of youths living in the Fraser North region, which includes the Tri-Cities, suggests the majority of teens have positive mental health and are connected with family, school and community.
But a closer reading of the report shows that suicide attempts are on the rise among both males and females - posing a concern for families, mental health service providers and other agencies, says the executive director of Share Family and Community Services.
"There's mixed results. There's some good news that we should be taking solace in some of the work we are doing in prevention," said Martin Wyant. But he worries about the upward trend in suicide attempts.
According to the 2013 BC Adolescent Health Survey released Thursday by the McCreary Centre Society, 4% of males surveyed had attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 2% in 2008 while 9% of females reporting they had attempted suicide compared to 6% in 2008.
Wyant said the results are disturbing and show vulnerable children continue to need attention and support.
"It's not surprising, either," he continued. "I read critical incident reports at Share, I see them every week and they are very sobering."
Wyant speculates that media focus on teen suicide in recent years, although helpful for caregivers, may be in part blamed for the increase in suicide ideation among teens. He also thinks more study should be done on teen social media usage and whether young people are increasingly isolated because their friendships are casual and online instead of meaningful and face-to-face.
"I am always aware of that, I wonder sometimes about the effect of anti-social media, this artificial relationships stuff that goes on with Twitter and Facebook, I mean people are using what we call social media, but it's artificial these aren't real relationships."
DRUGS AND ALCOHOL DOWN
Still, the McReary report offers some good new as well, with teens in this region less likely to experiment with tobacco, drugs and alcohol than their peers elsewhere in B.C. - and less than compared to five years ago.
According to the Fraser North report, only 17% of students in Grades 7 to 12 had ever smoked, below the provincial rate of 21%, and down from 25% in 2008; and the percentage of youth trying alcohol dropped from 49% in 2008 to 39% in 2013.
Only 20% of respondents had tried marijuana, compared to 26% provincially and about the same as in 2008.
(Prior to 2008, School District 43 did not allow students to participate in the survey, which is administered by public health nurses to gather information about teen behaviours and attitudes towards sex, drugs, alcohol and other health issues.)
While the survey found that, overall, the majority of youth in the region reported good physical and mental health; strong connections with family, school and community; and positive plans for the future, many reported they didn't get enough sleep.
And what kept them awake was their cellphones, other online activities or homework.
"It is great to see so many positives in areas such as substance use and injury prevention behaviours like seatbelt wearing," Annie Smith, McCreary's executive director, said in a press release. "But the number of students who are online or on their phone when they should be sleeping is concerning and is something we should focus on."
