SAN DIEGO -- A survey of 1,800 high school students in the San Diego Unified School District shows that about one in 10 of them attempted suicide last year, which is higher than the national average.

The number of reported suicide attempts among the district's 9th- through 12-graders was 10.9 percent, compared with 10.5 percent the previous year, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The county ranked above the national average of 8.5 percent of students who acknowledged that they had attempted suicide, the newspaper reported.

The data are part of an annual report on youth and families in San Diego County. The Board of Supervisors will receive the report Tuesday and authorize it for public release, the Union-Tribune reported.

Developed in 1997 at the suggestion of Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox, the report monitors health, economic security, educational achievement, access to services and safety for children in the county.

This year's report gives the county good marks overall. Teen pregnancy among girls 15 to 17 years has declined. But Hispanic girls made up nearly 42 percent of all teen who got pregnant, significantly more than any other ethnic group.

Cigarette smoking and alcohol use among high school students decreased slightly to an average of about 11 percent, the Union-Tribune reported. The number of students who reported smoking marijuana stayed about the same at 13 percent.

The rate of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect decreased from 15 percent per 1,000 children in 2002 to 13 percent in 2003, the newspaper reported. About 16.5 percent of the county's children live in poverty, compared with 19 percent nationwide.

More Information:

County Suicide Hotline: (800) 479-3339
Annual San Diego County Child & Family Health & Well Being Report Card