"People called it the 'death' or 'passing.' But we now call it suicide. We are past trying to play like it doesn't happen to our kids."

Another 35 percent of respondents disagreed there is any stigma attached to suicide. "Ten years ago, maybe. Today's youths are more informed, more open and have experienced more openness with adults than ever before."

Hurdles to cross

Principals who responded listed several hurdles for frank discussion about the topic.

Fear creates a roadblock for discussion, said Orin Johansen, a veteran guidance counselor at West High School in Salt Lake City, who included his name on the survey and consented to an interview. "We're afraid to face our vulnerabilities."

Twenty-three percent said the topic is simply awkward or taboo. Another 23 percent said parents don't want the subject brought up. Twenty percent cited worry that discussion would encourage suicide.

"Actually, the opposite is true," Johansen said. "Talking about it allows the cork to be removed from the bottle."

Not so, wrote another official.

"It is important to NOT talk about suicide per se. It can (in my opinion) plant a seed in the mind of some as a viable alternative."

Every person who responded said they would call in a crisis or counseling team in the event of a suicide death among students.

And while 64 percent said the student body was "devastated" or similarly impacted by a suicide, 14 percent said only friends of the victim were impacted.

There is also no consistency among schools about how to notify other students of a suicide: Some principals said they would announce it to their entire student body; others would tell only the young person's close friends. Still others said they wouldn't mention it at all.

The survey asked school officials if any student had taken his or her own life at the school in the past two years.

Nine percent of schools reported suicides in that time frame. Two schools reported two suicide deaths among teenagers.

Another school official reported no suicides within the two-year period but wrote about the impact of a suicide by a sixth-grader one year earlier.

One educator wrote in detail about the impact the suicide of a 14-year-old boy had on his Utah middle school community.