KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's Note: This story mentions thoughts of suicide. It may be upsetting to some viewers. If you are struggling, there is help available. Here's a list of mental health resources in East Tennessee.
As students make their way inside classrooms across East Tennessee, many are facing a silent epidemic: suicide.
A CDC report shows, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 12 to 18 years old and third for people 10 to 24.
Clark Flatt is the president of The Jason Foundation. He founded the foundation after his 16-year-old son, Jason Flatt, committed suicide on July 16, 1997. Ever since, Flatt has been on a mission to break the silence on youth suicide in every state and city, including Knoxville.
"It robs a person of their personality. It robs them of any kind of joy of life," Flatt said as he described the feeling of suicide.
Flatt said his son Jason was his all-American kid. An A-B student in school, athletic and a social butterfly. He never imagined Jason would unfortunately take his own life.
"I arrived home to find that he had made a choice to take his own life and it was devastating," Flatt said. "I found Jason to be your poster kid for the young people we're losing today. Usually, it's your better-than-average student."
Through his foundation, Flatt helps educate parents, pastors and young people to better recognize signs of suicide. He said through education, suicide is preventable.
"It can be as obvious as, 'I'm going to kill myself.' But it can be less obvious. You hear your son or daughter say, 'Hey, nobody the world would be no different if I wasn't here."
CDC data shows the national number of deaths by suicide continues to rise.
In 2021, about 926 people per week committed suicide. In 2022, that increased to 950 people.
It's a statistic that Knox County as a college town is not immune to.
"If you think about kids going into college, a lot of times it's the first time out on their own or in a new environment. And there's a lot of pressure for what's going to happen, how their life is gonna go," Kelly George, CEO of East Tennessee Behavioral Health, said.