It's widely accepted that young people are more inclined to share their feelings and problems with their friends first as they enter the teenage years.  Therefore, young people need to be educated in basic suicide awareness and prevention as our first line of defense against this very preventable cause of death.  They need to be taught to take the suicidal comments and signs very seriously and know that it's important to seek adult help urgently for their friend.   There are two well recognized school based curriculums that have been deployed in schools over the past 20 years.  One is called SAFE:TEEN (formerly known as Adolescent Suicide Awareness program) created by Ann Ryerson who worked with Dr Kalafat from Rutgers University until she moved to Colorado.  Dr. Kalafat endorses her curriculum.  He also created his own called Lifelines.  Both curriculums have been continuously improved and updated based on the latest research.

Click here to read Dr Kalafat's response to the myth that talking with kids about suicide will "plant" the idea 

Please see how well Maine has embraced a statewide prevention program: http://www.maine.gov/suicide/ Here is the curriculum briefing for the one Maine is using: The Life Line Curriculum by Dr. Kalafat And the video tape which was produced in our village by Noodlehead Network back in 1998 by students from the Essex Teen Center.  There is a second tape also distributed by Noodle Head Network that is titled "A life saved" that has 8th graders from a Maine middle school tell their story of how they applied what they learned from the Vermont tape and saved a friend's life.   Both tapes have become very popular companions to the Safe Teen and Lifelines Curriculum.

 

Suicide: A Guide To Prevention
Grades 7-12 ~ 22 min ~ Leader's Guide
Teens who complete suicide have almost always revealed their intentions to at least one other person. In a kid-friendly way, this video takes the guesswork out of intervening in these situations. It clearly shows what to do and what not to do if a fellow teen in talking about suicide or showing warning signs. Interviews with teen survivors reinforce the importance of the role plays that follow. Created by a group of teens and counseling experts, this video is also an excellent training tool for professionals who want to hone their skills in talking with kids.   

 

A Life Saved: The Story of a Suicide Intervention
Grades 7-12 ~ 11 min ~ Leader's Guide
This true story documents a suicide intervention that occurred after the completion of a suicide prevention curriculum. Just days after viewing the companion video “Suicide. A Guide To Prevention Second Edition”, a group of middle school students with concerns about a friend's safety spoke up to their guidance counselor and saved a life. Appropriate for both youth and adult audiences, “A Life Saved” illustrates the value of school-wide education on teen suicide, and is suggested as part of the “Lifelines” curriculum.

GATE KEEPERS

A key component to any suicide prevention curriculum is first training all of the adults on the school staff to be "gate keepers".  A gatekeeper is someone in the position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. Gatekeepers include parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, squad leaders, foremen, police officers, advisors, caseworkers, fire fighters and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide. Three simple steps that can save a life are Question, Persuade, and Refer. People trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, to offer hope and to refer someone to help, often saving their life.  QPR Gatekeeper training can be learned in little as an hour. The QPR institute is one of the recognized effective gate keeper training programs in the country.  Click here to learn more about the gate keeper techniques of QPR.

The Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey 

The following table is from the 2005 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS):

   There are approximately 38,000 students in Vermont public schools in grades 8-12. Translating  the percentages: Felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least 2 weeks that they stopped doing some usual activities : 8,360 Students  Made a plan about how to attempt suicide: 4180 Students Actually attempted suicide: 2660 Students Attempted suicide and required medical treatment: 760 Students   These statistics should concern every parent in our state.  Even if your child is not one of the students above, just being a friend of a student who has completed suicide can have a devastating lifelong impact on them.  Confirm your school district is covering Suicide Awareness and Prevention in the health curriculum. It's required by Vermont law now!  Please contact your local school board if this is not being addressed in your middle school and high school.   Click Here to Find Your Vermont School's Website

More information:

The 1997 Vermont Governor's  Teen Suicide Prevention Task Force's  Booklet "Preventing Teen Suicide"  

had many recommendations which, tragically for us, were never done.