Suicide among teens is on the rise, making it crucial for everyone involved in either working with or caring for young people to be aware of the warning signs. The school setting is vitally important in teen suicide prevention, with teachers and school counsellors playing a key role in helping suicidal teens.
Key Ways to Prevent Teens Committing Suicide – Suicide Prevention Tips
Effective suicide prevention involves knowing the signs of depression and being able to identify signs indicating a student may be suicidal. Key ways to prevent teens from committing suicide, include the following:
- easy access to student counselling
- anti-bullying policies
- mental health screening programmes
- providing time for students to express concerns
- building self-esteem lessons
- peer mentoring programmes
Suicide Prevention in Schools – Role of Teachers in Preventing Teen Suicides
As teenagers spend the majority of their day in school, it makes sense for schools to adopt in-house suicide prevention programmes. However, it is estimated that only a quarter of US schools currently have a suicide prevention programme in place. In addition to the above suicide prevention tips, Fung et al. (2010) identify that schools may help through the following
- promoting emotional expressionism
- creating a nurturing, safe and positive learning environment
- strengthening mental health of teachers and other staff
- parent education workshops
- suicide prevention teacher training courses
Teacher Training Suicide Prevention Courses to Help Prevent Teen Suicide
It is absolutely vital that all teachers working with teens have access to training courses offering skills on suicide prevention. As peer mentoring schemes are recognised as useful in preventing teen suicide, once teachers are effectively trained, they are then able to teach students how to help peers and what to do if they suspect a classmate is considering committing suicide.
According to Fung et al. (2010) suicide prevention training courses for teachers should cover the following issues:
- identifying students at risk
- responding effectively to suicidal students
- causes of suicide
- facts and misconceptions about suicide
- who/how to refer students for help
- how to assess severity of suicide risk
- crisis management procedures
- coping skills to help suicidal students
- monitoring students in school
- how to notify/work with parents
How to Keep Suicidal Teenagers Safe at School
Once a teen has been identified as being at risk of committing suicide in the school environment, it is crucial to take immediate action. Above all, place the student's well-being and safety as top priority, remain calm and avoid getting emotional, as this will not help the situation. After informing a colleague or the student counsellor, Fung et al. suggest teachers undertake the following:
- calmly talk to the student – ask about frequency, duration of suicidal thoughts
- never agree to keep suicidal intentions secret – no exceptions
- ask student to hand over means of suicide
- take student to safe, non-threatening room as soon as possible
- keep student under constant observation
- do not allow student who has threatened suicide to leave school premises alone
- get student to sign a no-suicide contract
- notify key personnel of situation
- inform suicidal student if outside help sought – explain next few steps
- supervise student until parents take over responsibility
As highlighted above, along with peers and parents, the school has a key role in helping prevent teens from committing suicide. Suicide prevention programmes and effective teacher training courses are vital for keeping teens safe.
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