Nyamwange C. Suicide a Menace in Secondary Schools: A Case of Gusii Region, Kenya. Int J Behav Res Psychol. 2019;7(3):251-255. 251 OPEN ACCESS https://scidoc.org/IJBRP.php Suicide a Menace in Secondary Schools: A Case of Gusii Region, Kenya Review Article Nyamwange C * Senior Lecturer, Educational Psychology, Kisii University, Kenya. Director, Calsams & Gidkemtons Consultancy Firm. Director, Bright Future Wellness Center, Milimani, Kisii. International Journal of Behavioral Research & Psychology (IJBRP) ISSN 2332-3000 *Corresponding Author: Callen Nyamwange, Senior Lecturer, Educational Psychology, Kisii University, Kenya. Director, Calsams & Gidkemtons Consultancy Firm. Director, Bright Future Wellness Center, Milimani, Kisii. Tel: +254727023537 E-mail: callen@kisiiuniversity.ac.ke/nyamwangebona@gmail.com Received: July 12, 2019 Accepted: August 26, 2019 Published: September 20, 2019 Citation: Nyamwange C. Suicide a Menace in Secondary Schools: A Case of Gusii Region, Kenya. Int J Behav Res Psychol. 2019;7(3):251-255. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2332-3000-1900044 Copyright: Nyamwange C © 2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distri- bution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background Suicide is a complex phenomenon that emerges out of a dynamic interaction involving biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual factors. Suicide is most often the result of profound pain, hopelessness and despair: it is the triumph of pain, fear and loss over hope (Bertolote, 2000) [1]. Suicide is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the Unit- ed States and was responsible for almost 45,000 deaths in 2016. Many more people are hospitalized as a result of nonfatal sui- cidal behavior (i.e., suicide attempts) than are fatally injured, and an even greater number are either treated in ambulatory settings (e.g., emergency departments) or not treated at all [1, 2]. Among adults aged 18 years and older, for each suicide there are about 30 adults who reported making a suicide attempt. In the United States, suicide was responsible for 44,193 deaths in 2015, which is approximately one suicide every 12 minutes (CDC, 2015) [2]. Suicide, like other human behaviors, has no single determining cause. Instead, suicide occurs in response to multiple biological, psychological, interpersonal, environmental and societal infuenc- es that interact with one another, often over time. According to CDC (2015) [2] the social ecological model-encompassing multi- ple levels of focus from the individual, relationship, community, and societal-is a useful framework for viewing and understanding suicide risk and protective factors identifed in the literature. WHO (2018) [11] Suicides happen in all countries and regions, whether rich or poor. However, most occur in low and middle- income countries, which accounted almost four-ffths of global suicides in 2016. Every year, close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, it is estimated that the method used for 20 percent of global suicides is pesticide self-poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income Abstract More than 800,000 people die by suicide every year around one person every 40 seconds. Suicide occurs all over the world and can take place at almost any age. Globally, suicide rates are highest in people aged 70 years and over. In some countries, however, the highest rates are found among the young. Worryingly, suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds globally. Suicide has become a menace in Kenya with rates going high by the day. This study was carried out among the Gusii people of Kenya which targeted secondary school students. The purpose of this study is to establish if students of secondary school have social interactions, friends, peers, relationships and feel burdensome to parents by secondary school students as this are predictors of suicide. The study utilized a qualitative research design and data was collected by use of questionnaires and data was analyzed by use of simple percentages The study revealed that majority of the students 70% of the respondents said that they spend time with friends at home and at school and 21% do not enjoy spending time with family or even with friends whereas 9% remained neutral. On how they feel with their peers 40 (26%) feel comfortable majority 99 (66%) do not like the idea of being with peers. The study gave recommendations based on the fndings of what needs to be done to reduce the predictors of suicide. Keywords: Suicide; Student; Peer; Relationship; Family; Friendship.