“We are worried that people at risk of suicide are getting younger and younger,” said Clarence Tsang Chin-kwok, the group’s executive director.

The organisation analysed media reports of teens taking their own lives over the past four months and found there were 22 cases of death or attempted suicide involving people aged up to 19 from July until Thursday this week.

Seventeen of those people died, which was more than two-fifths of the total number of suicides in the age group for the whole of last year. But the figure will be subject to the determination of the Coroner’s Court.

There were 39 cases of such deaths involving people aged 19 or below last year, according to the Coroner’s Court.

Among the 22 cases the group analysed over the past four months, 16 were female, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the incidents.

Most of the teens were found to have experienced academic, relationship and family problems.

Men were more prevalent than women in the overall figure for suicides each year, but the opposite was true for teens, according to Tsang. “Girls at this age are more mature and sensitive to relationships and emotions than boys,” he said.

Tsang added that his organisation’s main suicide prevention hotline received 109 calls from people aged 19 and below from July to October 20, and most of them sought help with their family problems, physical and mental health, interpersonal relationships and academic issues.

He said many of those who called were dealing with multiple issues, which put them at higher risk.

The organisation’s suicide crisis intervention centre, which provides counselling, consultation and group service for people at medium-to-high risk, handled 51 cases involving the 19-and-below age group from July to October 24, with the youngest being just eight years old.

To better support teens, apart from the newly designated hotline, the organisation has also extended the hours of its online chat service and will launch a programme to train students in social work or psychology at Polytechnic University in suicidal crisis assessment and intervention skills.

Tsang also called on the government for more support, including adding manpower for schools to cope with the suicide crisis of pupils, and providing resources for teachers and social workers to learn about assessment and intervention skills.

He also urged schools to reduce students’ academic pressure and seek professional help for pupils at risk of suicide.

Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of the University of Hong Kong, said the rising trend of teenagers taking their own lives was worrying.

Apart from academic pressure, family and interpersonal relationship problems as well as mental health issues, they also struggled to readjust to normal school life after three years of disruption during the coronavirus pandemic, Yip said.

“September and October are usually an adjustment period for students after long holidays, and with the impact of the Covid, they need more time,” he said, calling for adults to show more patience with teenagers.

Yip said the new hotline for teens was welcome, but added that multiple avenues for assistance were needed, such as online text chat services and youth centres where they can seek assistance.