Prevention Stage:
1.
Continue to be genuinely interested in the emotional health of all
students in your classes. Keep yourself psychologically
healthy and model self-care to your students (how to work out problems, deal
with stress, etc.)
2.
Let students know through the respect you show them in class as well as
verbally that you are available to listen. You don’t need to have answers, but
you do need to listen and empathize with the student as much as you feel you
can. Being seen talking with students about non-academics builds up the trust
level students have in you and makes it more likely that they will break down
barriers that prevent teens from talking about emotional problems they are
having with adults.
3. Make students aware of the availability of the school counselors, social worker, psychologist, and nurse to listen and help with problem-solving of various types. Check yourself on a regular basis for students who appear to have emotional problems (may be manifested in your classes as depression, anxiety, acting-out behaviors) - please make referrals on these students before or after you talk with the student to support personnel. If possible, make some mention of the student and your concerns as soon as you can - this gives the support personnel some point of reference to intervene or background information if problems begin to escalate for the student.
Intervention Stage:
1.
First, ask about depression. You could say something like: “You don’t
seem to be yourself lately. You seem to be sort of down. Is something bothering
you?”
2.
If the student answers affirmatively say, “Are you depressed about
something?”
3.
If yes, ask the student about the length of his/her depression, how bad
it gets, how much the person is crying, and how sleep and appetite have been
affected.
4.
Follow up the student’s response with a direct question about whether
they have been contemplating suicide. It is important to talk openly about this
in order to determine risk.
5.
Find out if the student has a plan. How lethal is it? Is the method
available to the student? Does anyone know about this?
6.
Have they attempted suicide before and by what means?
7.
Ask: “Why are you thinking about this now? What’s bothering you or
who are you angry with? What was the last straw?”
8.
At this point ask the student if s/he would be willing to talk a
counselor, social worker, school psychologist, or nurse. Tell the student that
we will help them. The student must be informed that his/her parents will be
called.
9.
It is critical to stay with the student and provide for his/her safety
if the risk of suicide is great. Escort the student to one of the support
personnel and explain to that person what the student has told you so far.
10.
If none of the support personnel are present, you should call the parent
if the student seems to be suicidal. If possible, have at least one other staff
person present and document the contact with the parent. Inform the
administration about the situation and be sure you care for the safety of the
student. For example, if the student runs away or takes off in his/her car after
indicating they are suicidal, it would be necessary to call the police and the
parent. When contacting the parent, it is important to stay calm. What you are
trying to accomplish is to get their support in finding help for their child. Be
sure to have a list of community resources available to address the mental
health needs of the child.
11.
In most situations you will simply need to refer the student on to the
appropriate support personnel. They
will be responsible for assessing the risk of suicide, parent contact,
protecting the safety of the child, and setting up a plan for helping the
student through the crisis by enlisting the support of parents and community
mental health professionals.
12.
If you feel uncomfortable or incompetent in working with a child or a
particular situation please get assistance, explaining to the student that you
will do everything you can to get help for him/her.
Additional Do’s and Don’ts in Talking with Suicidal
Teens
1.
Do not assume that the adolescent is simply trying to get attention.
2.
Be supportive and affirm to the student that they are doing the right
thing in talking about their problems.
3.
Do not tease the adolescent about the seriousness of his or her intent.
4. Offer concrete solutions and steps to be taken and make sure the student understands what you mean.