Teen suicides spike nearly 70 percent

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Christian Cuccorillo, 14,  isn’t too far away from his freshman year in high school.  He's already witnessed bullying first hand.

“Like, there’s always this one kid that’s being annoying. Kids pick on him and it keeps going,” he said.

It's the kind of thing that's playing out in school across the country.  For some teens, it's too much. 

New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show a spike in teen suicides. The CDC says there has been a nearly 70-percent spike in teen suicides from 2006 to 2016.

Clara Reynolds, the CEO of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, blames societal pressures in part for that spike. 

“The idea of mass shootings is playing on a lot of minds and there is social media and some of it you can’t turn off.  It's in front of you all the time.  It exacerbates the issue,” she said.

Changes in behavior are typically an indicator that something’s wrong.  

Reynolds says teens dealing with those issues should talk with someone right away.  One way is to dial 211. 

“It is so important for children to realize they're not alone. They're not isolated and it will get better if they talk about it,” she said.