Data isn’t woke.
For years, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) has been an essential tool for suicide prevention. It helps public health professionals understand which groups of young people are at the highest risk, so they can take action before tragedy strikes. That’s why, when the CDC took the YRBS offline earlier this year, it sent shockwaves through the suicide prevention community. Now, after a court order, the survey is back. But something’s changed.
Instead of simply restoring this critical data, the Trump administration added a bold yellow disclaimer to the CDC’s website—that reads:
“Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.”
This is a stunning move that turns a life-saving resource into a political battleground. This isn’t just about politics. It’s about whether we can trust public health data at all.
Why the YRBS Matters
If you’ve never heard of the YRBS, here’s why it’s so important: Every year, students in grades 9-12 take a confidential survey about their health and behavior. The 87 questions cover everything from alcohol and drug use to diet, sexual activity, and—critically—suicide.
Four questions focus specifically on suicidality:
- Have you seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year?
- Have you made a plan?
- Have you attempted suicide?
- Did any attempt result in an injury requiring medical treatment?
The data from these questions has shaped some of the most effective suicide prevention programs in the country. Without it, we’d be flying blind.
For example, while working with Texas System of Care, our team found that Latino students in the Rio Grande Valley were far more likely than their white peers to move from thinking about suicide to actually attempting it. Because we had that data, we could act fast—screening young people earlier, training educators, and providing culturally relevant support.
On tribal lands, we discovered a disturbing trend: teenage girls were using more lethal suicide methods, putting them at higher risk of death. Because of the YRBS, we could tailor prevention campaigns specifically for them—an intervention that likely saved lives.
The YRBS doesn’t “create” disparities. It reveals them. Ignoring that reality doesn’t make the disparities go away—it just ensures that more young people, especially those at the highest risk, won’t get the help they need.
Public Health Shouldn’t Be a Culture War
At its core, this isn’t just about one survey or one disclaimer. It’s about whether we’re willing to let ideology override science. It’s about whether we’re okay with turning a life-saving dataset into a political weapon.
Public health isn’t partisan. Data isn’t “woke.” And suicide prevention isn’t up for debate.
