Student Suicides

Suicide among adolescents has increased dramatically in the United States over the past 40 years. A 1991 Maryland case, Eisel v. Board of Education of Montgomery County, recognized a cause of action against a school district and its employees for failing to warn parents of a student's suicidal ideations. However, in the years since Eisel, most courts have ruled that school boards and their employees are not legally responsible for a student's death by suicide. This entry briefly examines the issue of student suicides and then looks more closely at education-related lawsuits.