IT HAS been said that we get what we deserve, that we are the authors of our own acts. If some tragedy should befall us - a war, perhaps - then somehow we earned it.

The same may be said of teen-age suicide, a byproduct of modernity that will not diminish to any meaningful degree until far-reaching structural changes occur in our social fabric. Preventive programs may save some lives, and so should not be discouraged, but the source of the problem lies much deeper.

To comprehend the message of teen-age suicide, it is necessary to stand back and view the larger picture.

Rates indicate that suicide among the young has tripled over the last 15 or so years. What does this mean? What makes today's adolescent more vulnerable than those from another time or from other age groups?

What is it about the nature of today's society that fosters such a startling increase in suicide rates?

Today's adolescent does not differ markedly in physical and psychological makeup from those of past generations. Increased vulnerability to the dynamics of suicide does result, however, from the added pressures of the age.

Teen-agers have just too little insulation on their wires, namely less ability to deal with life's frustrations at a time of increased awareness and sensitivity to them.

Of greater importance in coming to grips with the causes of teen-age suicide is the nature of society itself. Three social components converge in such a way that certain inevitable consequences - in this case, teen-age suicide - result. These components are:

* Rapid social change.

* Fluctuating, vaguely defined rules.

* Highly prized societal values.

The overriding social force affecting both cultural values and norms is technological and social change occurring at a heretofore unprecedented pace. This rate continues to escalate, making adjustments to it all the more difficult.

As a people, we have demonstrated incredible resiliency over the years, adapting to specific changes. We have adjusted to the social impact of wars, depressions, automobiles, air travel, telephones and television.

Yet, never before have we ever experienced the present rate of change itself. And it is this rate of change, and the inability to harmonize with it, that precipitates the problems.

In 1970, students wore slide rules on their belts. Only 16 years later, calculators are giving way to personal computers.

Not long ago, you turned on the TV, waited for the tube to warm up and saw a news film shot the previous week. Today, it's live by satellite, and you can be anywhere in, or out of, the world.

From artificial conception in laboratories to sophisticated computers, technological changes are overwhelming. Is it possible to even stay abreast of our own fields?

A centenarian born in the late 19th century recalled going from horses and buggies to the first moon landing. With an ever-increasing rate of change, it's frightening to contemplate the specific changes you will witness in your lifetime.

Rapid social changes also affect all of us, particularly teen-agers. Attitudes toward sex, marriage, drugs and life goals, to name a few, continue to fluctuate, thus making it difficult for parents to guide children on the basis of their own experience.

In the early 1960's, many colleges had curfew hours for women, liquor was taboo in dormitories and students had no ''upstairs privileges'' with the opposite sex.

Have you visited a residential campus lately?

Such changes cloud the boundaries of acceptable behavior, causing stress for everyone, particularly adolescents, who are more vulnerable to the pressure. It is difficult to organize one's life within a system of vaguely defined rules and codes of conduct, a system in which it is taken for granted that what currently exists, both technologically and socially, will be obsolete all too quickly.

American culture today glorifies values that might be characterized as shallow at best. There exists a hedonistic emphasis on the self.

The ''do your own thing'' of the 60's, which then meant breaking with the establishment to help others, today becomes ''do my own thing - for me! Give me pleasure. Entertain me.''

We savor the biggest, the best, the newest, the fastest.

We also need to be No. 1. Whether it's Burger King vs. McDonald's, Coke vs. Pepsi or a football player scoring his first touchdown, the index finger points skyward.

What about those unable to achieve the top slot? They're losers, the position held by the masses. Many adolescents find this untenable.

We live a materialistic, self-oriented existence of manufactured obsolence and disposability. Possessions aren't expected to last; when they don't, they're discarded. The same seems true for relationships. Augmented by a highly mobile population with weaker roots than past generations and, therefore, less community attachment, we find adolescents telling us how wary they are about making permanent commitments because so many around them have disintegrated.

Today's adolescent grows up in an isolating world. In fact, isolation in the guise of privacy is another prized value. Adolescents compute - alone; use a Walkman - alone.

Video games? They don't even need another human to play chess!

Adolescents also tend to overwatch TV and, once again, they do it alone.

As a result, many adolescents display weak communication skills. Suicide becomes a consequence of isolation when pain cannot be expressed and there is no one to listen.

We also value the ''easy life.'' We prefer things done quickly and easily, with complications minimized. Problems should be resolved fast.

Pain? Select a remedy from a smorgasbord of consumable substances, both licit and illicit. Perhaps the answer can be found in a weekend encounter group.

Then again, faddish pop cures: EST, yoga, Zen, mind control, meditation, etc., serve a population desperately searching for the right instant fix.

Finally, violence is another prized American value. Whether it's a strong emphasis on the military or exaggerated media gore, violence is embraced as well as deplored.

Added together, these powerful influences produce an anomic generation for whom threshholds constantly change. The fallout is a host of social ills ranging from substance abuse to suicide.

Adolescence is a time of breaking away, of developing independence, of experimentation. Suicide is the ultimate experiment, the ultimate personal expression, the ultimate ''do your own thing.''

Like possessions, individual lives and the bonds connecting them to others become disposable.

It's a solitary act, putting the self before others and before relationships.

Suicide is quick. In a sense, it becomes the easy solution to problems perceived as serious.

For some, it offers relief from the pressures of trying to keep up with a world that's changing too fast.