Students Are Hurting Others - And Themselves
Schools are a key setting for suicide prevention. All school personnel who interact with students can play an important role in keeping them safe. Students may turn to them because of their position and the respect they hold for them as a faculty or staff member.
It’s not always possible to tell what is troubling a student and where these troubles may lead. But indications that a young person is in emotional difficulty demand action. School staff cannot assume that a young person’s family will take positive steps to respond to these problems – especially those from underserved communities.
By acting on these warning signs, schools can help teens become healthier, happier, and achieve academic success. And in some cases, action will save a life.
So how exactly can schools help prevent these tragedies?
Establishing a school-based suicide prevention program
This can include awareness and education efforts, integrating SEL into the curriculum, strengthening protective factors, fostering positive relationships between teens and adults at school, and focusing on climate school connectedness.
Implementing a suicide prevention gatekeeping program
These programs help teach school personnel regularly interacting with students to identify individuals who are showing warning signs of suicide risk, helping them get the services they need.
Creating a comprehensive school crisis preparation and response plan
A school crisis response plan should include guidelines for membership on the school crisis response team and the roles of its members. This consists of protocols for delivering crisis intervention services; protocols for notifying team members, school staff, students, parents, and the community of information about a crisis.
Offering school-based mental health services
– Provide a full array of services at three tiers:
-Universal mental health promotion for all students.
-Selective services for students identified as at risk for a mental health concern or problem.
-Indicated services for individual students who already display a mental health concern or problem.
-Build on planned, purposeful partnerships between schools and community systems.
-Use evidence-based practices to the extent possible and work to address quality improvement.
These are just a few of the practices your institution can implement to try and decrease the suicide rate among our teens around the country. While it won’t always be in the hands of the school, it’s always beneficial to show students they are supported.
Learn more about how CE Tours is contributing to student success and emotional well-being, through our Mind Management course – providing teens with skills for living healthier mental lives.
Resources:
https://afsp.org/bring-suicide-prevention-to-your-school
https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/suicide/2/schools/programming
https://ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh226/files/publications/bulletins/schoolcrisis/pg3.html
