In November 2024, a Jacksonville, Florida, mother watched her 16-year-old son unravel.
Already the target of racist bullying at school, he was one of many Black students across the country who received racist text messages after the presidential election. It hit hard: the teenager became withdrawn, afraid to return to school, and was overwhelmed by a feeling that he didn’t belong.
He eventually returned a few weeks later, but much like the bullying, the school never addressed it publicly. The school and the world, his mother said, “just moved on from the story.”
But the situation almost cost him his life.
“He told me later that he didn’t want to go back to school and that the reason he gave me his phone was that he had been thinking about ending his life,” says his mother, who asked Word in Black to remain anonymous to protect their privacy. “And that’s when I just broke down.”
The mother’s story is not an anomaly. Black K-12 students across the country are battling a growing mental health crisis that experts say is connected to their school environments.
According to a new report from The AAKOMA Project, a nonprofit organization that helps address the mental health needs of youth of color, more than 40% of Black youth ages 13-17 seriously considered suicide in the past year. At the same time, 38% self-harmed in some way, and more than 16% attempted suicide at least once.
“The fact that this is not a national crisis with all hands on deck trying to solve it is unconscionable to me,” says Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, a clinical psychologist and founder of The AAKOMA Project. “That the needs of so many Black youth have gone unnoticed — and remain sorely under-addressed — is devastating.”
Schools as a Source of Racial Trauma
From disproportionately high discipline rates to biased teachers, experts say systemic racism in schools chips away at a young person’s sense of safety and self-worth. In AAKOMA’s 2025 State of Youth Mental Health report, 21% of Black youths reported suffering racial trauma from teachers and other school employees. Nearly 30% said they experienced racial discrimination at the hands of school police.
“This is significant as it means that schools continue to be unwelcoming and unsafe places for many Black youth,” Breland-Noble says. “It shows that bias and discrimination hurts, and that these issues often hurt Black students at disproportionately higher rates than other students.”
The report also found that three-quarters of Black youth say they feel like a burden to others, and about as many reported feeling as though they don’t belong — feelings commonly linked to suicidal ideations.
Breland-Noble adds that society, schools included, often compounds the racial trauma of Black youth by minimizing (and at times flat-out ignoring) the emotional hurt associated with the daily microaggressions and bias they experience.
“Black youth need to feel seen, heard, and valued for exactly who they are,” she says. “But many of them are growing up in schools that ignore their reality and deny their pain.”
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The Price of Unmet Mental Health Needs
Despite the warning signs, many Black students still aren’t getting help.
According to the AAKOMA report, nearly 1 in 3 Black youth who needed mental health care didn’t receive it. For Black boys, the picture is even more alarming: they are among the least likely to receive care, and are more likely to view mental illness as a weakness. Breland-Noble says that belief is shaped by cultural stigma and a lack of safe spaces to express vulnerability.
Academic performance has long been linked to feelings of support at school. A recent Rutgers University study found that, as Black K-12 students’ sense of belonging decreased, their risk for suicidal ideation and attempts climbed by as much as 35%.
Black youth need to feel seen, heard, and valued for exactly who they are,” she says. “But many of them are growing up in schools that ignore their reality and deny their pain.
Dr Alfiee Breland-Noble, CLINICAL psychologist and founder of the AAKOMA Project
“Mental health is a foundational aspect of the educational experience, and parents, teachers, and caregivers are the gatekeepers of that care,” Breland-Noble says. “So when stigma still exists in our schools and communities — especially around our youth (especially boys) needing help — it prevents access before it even begins.”
Rutgers researchers concluded that feeling accepted, valued, included, and encouraged in school could mitigate suicidal risk among Black kids. Breland-Noble agrees, adding that school districts must provide services that consider Black kids’ unique needs.
“Depression, anxiety, and suicidality do not all look the same in diverse youth,” she says. “Until we understand how these concerns manifest in different cultural groups, we cannot begin to develop effective approaches and interventions to support all youth.”
Healing Must Be the Goal
If schools want to care for Black students, Breland-Noble says, they must “create welcoming and inclusive learning environments that support the mental and emotional health of our students and the communities around them.” That means affirming their identities, rejecting punitive discipline models, and designing grassroots, culturally responsive systems of care.
She points to models like the Comer School Development Program in Connecticut and LeBron James’ I PROMISE School in Ohio as examples of wraparound systems that treat students as whole people.
“A healthy child learns best,” she says. “And ‘healthy’ must include mental health.”
Back in Jacksonville, the mother of the 16-year-old says that she still carries the weight of what almost happened — and hopes stories like hers will finally be taken more seriously.
“It takes a village, and I think schools need to be a part of that, too,” she adds. “Say something. Do something. Acknowledge what’s happening. Our kids can’t keep paying the price alone.”
