New Study Exploring Link Between GoGuardian Beacon and Reduced Suicide Rates

District leaders, IT admins, and counselors all share a critical responsibility – ensuring the safety of the students under their care. They are also keenly aware of how technology use can sometimes put learners' safety at risk. GoGuardian Beacon, a tool designed to help schools identify and respond to students potentially at risk of suicide, self-harm, or harm to others, analyzes online activity and alerts designated staff members.

Beacon was the first AI-powered suicide alerting solution of its kind, built to help schools identify students in crisis and enable timely intervention. Now, initial data is showing promising results in understanding Beacon’s role in youth suicide prevention across the nation.

A recent study, using county-level data from 2018 to 2022 and a rigorous difference-in-differences framework, compared 65 counties with sustained Beacon use to over 1,200 control counties. 

Of those counties using Beacon, youth suicide rates were significantly lower (26%) in counties that actively used Beacon from 2021 to 2022, even when accounting for demographic and regional differences.*

While researchers stopped short of drawing causal conclusions, the findings strongly suggest digital safety tools like Beacon may play a meaningful role in broader suicide prevention strategies.

This is more than just data. It’s a reminder that timely support and the right tools can make a real difference.

You can read the full study to see how GoGuardian Beacon performs nationwide.

Are you interested in learning how GoGuardian Beacon can help keep your students safe? Request a demo so we can walk you through every step of the process.

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* We analyzed county-level youth suicide data from 2018 to 2022. While rates were similar pre-pandemic, counties actively using Beacon had 26.4% lower average rates in 2021–2022, a significant difference even after adjusting for demographic and regional covariates.