linked our physical and emotional health actually are, and how important it is to take care of our mental health. We owe it to our youth to teach them how to identify what they are feeling and what they can do to help themselves when they experience distressing and unwanted emotions. We also need to teach our youth how to recognize when their friends may be struggling, what they can do to help them, and when they need to tell a trusted adult.
Our educators play an integral role in how we can and will affect change amidst this cultural shift where the mental health of our youth is being increasingly prioritized. Many argue that no one knows youth better than their teachers, the adults who are with them every day. Our goal for this book is to help educators see their critical role in suicide prevention, and acquire the knowledge and skills they need to save lives.
Introduction
Trigger Warning: Suicide method mentioned briefly
“The Colorado school where I teach went on lockout and we didn't know why. With our school so close to Columbine, it's hard not to think the worst when this happens. I kept teaching in an effort to distract the students. And myself. Thirty minutes into the lockout I'm looking at my student Emily as a look of horror crosses her face, which triggers a visceral internal response. Then one by one I see other students with their phones out and the same look of shock appears on all their faces. One of them shares that they'd all been sent a picture via the social media platform called Snapchat. It was a body bag photo of a student who had killed himself just minutes before. I never saw the picture. I couldn't. And although we didn't hear it, the rifle shot was heard by many of the classes. Earlier that day, a male who had been in my class as a freshman was in his welding class and referring to his welding helmet, he quietly told another student, ‘I won't be needing that anymore.’ He then asked the teacher if he could be excused to go to the bathroom. He crossed the football field, went home, got his weapon, then went to a public park near the school. That suicide rocked the community. It was the first one of three student suicides. It was one of the worst teaching days of my life.”
Doris, Science Teacher, Colorado Public School
After a death by suicide at a school, tissues are passed around in staff meetings, teachers are encouraged to contain gossip, productivity is arrested by shock and confusion, and in a desperate rush to force premature normalcy in the wake of devastation, the healing step is disregarded or abbreviated. Unresolved grief is a risk factor for suicide but teachers are rarely given tips on supporting grieving students, creating an additional layer of emotional chaos on a school campus that is already hurting. Sometimes lawyers will instruct administrators to say nothing, so they don't engage with the family, which can result in anger, blame, tempestuous lawsuits, and unwanted media attention that can brand the school as a rigid and uncaring. Once the school is moving forward again, administrators resist revisiting the topic.
With this population especially, suicide contagion, also known as copycat suicide, is a real threat and the desperation to contain the chatter and take control of the situation often motivates educators and administrators to act in ways they believe to be safeguarding their school community, when in fact it may be doing the opposite.
Suicide is the number two cause of death for ages 10–34 in both the United States and Canada after accidents, and the leading cause of death for ages 14–15 in the US.1
Despite this alarming public health threat, educator training for prevention is inconsistent and school districts tend to implement a plan for suicide prevention only after a student or teacher takes their own life. As one principal said, “It's tragic that a kid with great potential had to die for that to happen.” Policies and protocols for identifying students at risk for suicide, information on how to support grieving students, or a commemoration policy on how to handle a death from any cause are not commonplace even though free resources are available.
Overall, researchers have noted that 50–69% of those who die by suicide communicate suicidal thoughts or suicidal intent to others in some way before they die, providing a window of opportunity for intervention and prevention if we know what to look for and what to do.2 And because youth spend more time in school than any other place in their lives, there is an opportunity to prevent this cause of death and encourage the coping strategies that offer students the tools to manage adversity before it becomes a crisis.
Education has become a frenzy of test taking with little emphasis on students' emotional health. A lot is expected of educators today and the job keeps evolving and becoming more complex. Add to that rapid changes in technology and its influence on students and the teaching profession. The education world can be slow to adapt, leaving gaps in the system and administrators trying to play catch-up, but the good news is that teachers can integrate small culture shifts that are part of a foundation of suicide prevention and student wellness.
“When I graduated in 2000, there was no suicidal ideation happening. For today's students, suicide is embedded in their normal thought processes. It's just part of their language now which is why it should be part of ours, too. I've learned to ask every student that comes by my office if they are thinking of suicide. Because our student population is talking about it all the time. If they are talking about it, so should we.”
Jessica Chock-Goldman, LCSW (She/Her/Hers), Doctoral Candidate, School Social Worker, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, New York
While the conversation on mental health should be open and educators should listen and show empathy, Jessica Chock-Goldman also emphasizes that there is no need for teachers to be heroes but instead they can refer students to school counselors and those who know how to handle the situation since there are many nuances with this age group and even among specific ethnic populations. Sometimes the teacher joins that conversation with the student and counselor if the pupil is showing resistance, since it's only natural that they'd want to connect with the person with whom they have a relationship.
“We had a situation where a student who was quietly struggling with severe depression went on a school trip at the end of the year. One of the teachers who was chaperoning the trip sensed that this kid was really having a difficult time. She continually and gently reached out and kept reaching out, even though the student always responded that she was fine. But then on the last day when they were at the airport, at the last possible moment, the student just opened up and told her teacher how much she was struggling. The teacher called me from the airport and we began the conversation about how to connect this student with support when she returned from the trip. We worked together to help the student open up to her parents and get the help that she needed.”
Jennifer Hamilton (She/Her/Hers), School Psychologist, Director of Psychology andCounseling at Noble and Greenough, Independent School, Dedham, Massachusetts
Jennifer Hamilton collaborated on what needed to happen next and the student was unwilling to talk with a counselor, having established a trusted relationship with the teacher. This is often the case, which is why it is important to empower teachers with basic talking points on what to say or do to dispel the fear related to those conversations. Because that's all it is. Students want to talk to the person with whom they have a relationship, and that warm handoff sometimes needs to include the person they originally connected with because the pupil is afraid of the process. In this case, the counselor and teacher worked together to talk about what needed to happen next, and it was suitable to contact and inform the parents. After talking with her parents, she agreed to talk to the school counselor with the teacher present. From there, the goal was to include the student in conversations regarding options, which for her included outpatient treatment.
“I
