Youth Suicide Prevention

Program

By: Mi Chau, Meagan McEachron, & Chad Obzud

 Statistics of Suicides in the U.S
Approximately 20% of teenagers seriously consider killing themselves
Over one million teenagers or 5-8% attempt suicide
About 1600-2000 die by suicide yearly
In the United States, approximately 11 young people, ages 15-24 die every day by
suicide
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people between ages 15-24
nationally
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth are particularly at risk for both suicidal
ideation and suicide attempts - they are 3-5 times more likely to attempt suicide than
their heterosexual counterparts
Warning Signs most suicidal young people dont want to die;
they just want their pain to end.

Most of the time, people who kill themselves have given definite signals or talked about suicide to
those around them. It is important to know these signs and what to do to help
Current talk of suicide or making a plan
Previous suicide attempt
Giving away prized possessions
Signs of depression, moodiness, hopelessness, and withdrawal
Increased alcohol and or drug use
Impulsiveness and involved in risky behaviors
Lack of connection to family and talks
Hints of not being around in the future or saying good-bye
 Importance of Help-Seeking
It's the act of seeking assistance from informal or formal sources.

Requirements of Help-Seeking:

Self-awareness of a problem

Willingness to seek for help

Social norms that encourage such behavior

 Universal Suicide Prevention
Strategy
Goals of the Program:

Reach an entire population to address universal issues

Use help-seeking interventions to change the attitudes and behaviors of youths

Decrease the incidence of death by suicide

Direct youths toward effective sources of assistance

Techniques:
Psychoeducational curricula
Psychoeducational Curricula
Brief 1-hour or several week units: includes experiential exercises and lectures in order to
increase students knowledge about suicide.

focus on increasing awareness of depression and suicide (increasing understanding of

these risk factors could remove barriers to seeking help)

encouraging students to seek help or help increase students help-seeking behavior. This
phase is to encourage them to reach other parties for help, for example, a friend,
crisis hotline, teacher, etc.
Public Service Messaging Directed
at Youths
Public Service Announcements (PSAs): designed to increase recipients knowledge in
order to affect critical attitude and behavior changes

Suicide-prevention campaigns that use PSAs apply social marketing techniques to

prevent suicide by altering social behavior
Importance of Suicide Preventions
Nearly 14% of American students have contemplated suicide and 6% reported having a
suicide attempt

Majority of youths with mental-health problems do not receive services

Put an end to the stereotypes that go along with suicide

Educate kids, parents, and the community about the warning signs; what to look for,
why they want to kill themselves, and knowing where and who to go to for assistance

Reduce and hopefully eliminate youths suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and most
importantly, death.
What Role Does a School Counselor Play?
Create a comfortable and safe environment for the students to feel safe to talk and ask
for help

Focus on what the person is thinking and feeling

Focus on behaviors and thoughts that may show potential "risk" and follow-up with
families

Be an advocate for all students

Refer and support students

Facilitate small groups

Explore options with the student when necessary

ACTIVE MINDS
A non-profit organization dedicated to raising mental health awareness in schools.

Active Minds

Empowers students to speak openly about mental health

Encourages help-seeking

Aims to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health issues

Increase students awareness of mental health issues

Provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness
 Guest Speaker & An Annual Walk Event
Tuesday: Wear purple or turquoise to support suicide awareness

Thursday: Guest Speaker: Jordan Burnham from Active Minds

http://www.activeminds.org/our-programming/active-minds-speakers-bureau/speaker-j
ordan-burnham
Saturday Morning: Host annual walk to fundraise for future options
 The Use of Technology...
Using technology is notable when talking about suicide prevention programs because:

It attracts to young people and they use the Internet for all manner of information-
gathering and communication

Both telephone service and making contact via e-mail usually results in a response
within 24 hours, therefore, it is fast and easy

Online support group is available, targeting suicidal behaviors

Telephone crisis lines available to all; 24-hrs, 7 days a week

Blog writers and group forums are other forms of support that are provided online for
those in need
Ethical and Legal Considerations of
School Counseling
A.1. Responsibilities to Students
b. Are concerned with the educational, academic, career, personal and social needs and encourage the maximum development of
every student.
d. Are knowledgeable of laws, regulations and policies relating to students and strive to protect and inform students
regarding
their rights.
A.2. Confidentiality
b. Explain the limits of confidentiality in appropriate ways such as classroom guidance lessons, the student handbook, school
counseling brochures, school Web site, verbal notice or other methods of student, school and community communication in
addition to oral notification to individual students.
A.5. Appropriate Referrals
a. Make referrals when necessary or appropriate to outside resources for student and/or family support. Appropriate
referrals
may necessitate informing both parents/guardians and students of applicable resources and making proper plans for transitions
with minimal interruption of services. Students retain the right to discontinue the counseling relationship at any time.
 Ethical and Legal Considerations of School
Counseling
A.6. Group Work
c. Establish clear expectations in the group setting, and clearly state that confidentiality in group counseling cannot be
guaranteed. Given the developmental and chronological ages of minors in schools, recognize the tenuous nature of
confidentiality for minors renders some topics inappropriate for group work in a school setting.
A.10. Technology
a. Promote the benefits of and clarify the limitations of various appropriate technological applications. Professional
school
counselors promote technological applications
(1) that are appropriate for students individual needs,
(2) that students understand how to use and
(3) for which follow-up counseling assistance is provided.
c. Take appropriate and reasonable measures for maintaining confidentiality of student information and
educational records
stored or transmitted through the use of computers, facsimile machines, telephones, voicemail, answering machines and other
electronic or computer technology.
e. Consider the extent to which cyberbullying is interfering with student's educational process and base guidance
curriculum
and intervention programming for this pervasive
What we are asking of you is
$300 for guest speaker

Time set aside for presentation

Specific time to utilize track and field for walk

References
Klimes-Dougan, B., Klingbeil, D. A., & Meller, S. J. (2013). The impact of universal suicide-prevention programs on the help-seeking
attitudes and behaviors of youths. Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention And Suicide Prevention, 34(2), 82-97.

Ross, A. (1997). Preventing teenage suicide in New York. Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention And Suicide Prevention, 18(1), 12-16.

Robinson, J., Cox, G., Malone, A., Williamson, M., Baldwin, G., Fletcher, K., & OBrien, M. (2013). A systematic review of school-based
interventions aimed at preventing, treating, and responding to suicide-related behavior in young people.Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention
And Suicide Prevention, 34(3), 164-182.

Jacob, N., Scourfield, J., & Evans, R. (2014). Suicide prevention via the Internet: A descriptive review. Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention
And Suicide Prevention, 35(4), 261-267.

Grossman, J., Hirsch, J., Goldenberg, D., Libby, S., Fendrich, M., Mackesy-Amiti, M. E., & ... Chance, G. (1995). Strategies for school-based
response to loss: Proactive training and postvention consultation. Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention And Suicide Prevention, 16(1), 18-26.