In November, 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 It hit hard: the teenager became withdrawn, afraid to return to school and was overwhelmed by a feeling that he didn’t belong.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,” said 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,” said 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.”

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. 

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 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 said. “But many of them are growing up in schools that ignore their reality and deny their pain.” 

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.

“Mental health is a foundational aspect of the educational experience, and parents, teachers and caregivers are the gatekeepers of that care,” Breland-Noble said. “So, when stigma still exists in our schools and communities — especially around our youth needing help — it prevents access before it even begins.”

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