The rapid increase in teenage suicides in the United States in recent years has prompted the establishment of new suicide prevention programs and the revitalization of existing services in many communities. The federal government has taken a number of initiatives to curtail the high rise in teenage suicides and several states have taken legislative initiatives to deal with the problem. In North Carolina, local schools provide group counseling and other structural methods to offset crisis situations, and expose students to health-related problems of teenagers in the comprehensive curriculum. It has been recommended that schools form crisis teams and participate in workshops to train school counselors, teachers, and administrators to observe and detect suicide warning signs. Along with strategies employed by local school systems, North Carolina has several awareness campaigns and training workshops sponsored by various organizations. Research has made available much statistical data about teenage suicide and experts have isolated a number of contributory factors which account for the rise in teenage suicides. Suicidologists believe that the rate of teenage suicides could be significantly decreased if parents, teachers, peers, and others working with teenagers were better educated about the problem and more aware of the warning signs. More coordination and leadership are needed from the state level to ensure that efforts at curtailing teenage suicides are maximized. (NRB)