Pakamatay: Understanding and Awareness on Suicide and Suicidal Ideation among ASU-CIT Students

Abstract

Studies on suicide revealed that suicide can be prevented if appropriate help is available. Early discovery is an important way of hindering any suicide attempts and school administrators and professionals play a vital role in providing appropriate education about suicide. The purpose of this descriptive survey was to know the understanding and awareness on suicide and suicide ideation among the students of Aklan State University –College of Industrial Technology (ASU-CIT), Kalibo, Aklan. Data was collected through a survey distributed to the 96 randomly selected students from all year levels across different disciplines, which were officially enrolled during the second semester of Academic Year 2015–16 in the degree and non-degree curricula in hotel and restaurant management, industrial technology, engineering, architecture, information technology, and education. This study attempted to answer the following research questions: are the students aware of the risk factors that may lead to suicidal behaviour; are the students aware of the protective factors of suicide; and what are the cause/reason of youth suicide? The findings of this study seem to suggest that the students of ASU-CIT are aware of the risk factors that may lead to suicidal behaviour, they are also aware of protective factors of suicide and family problem is the main cause/reason of suicide among teenagers. But most of the student respondents did not received any education on how to prevent suicide. However, the majority of them believe that suicide can be prevented.