Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

The suicide of a young person has been compared to throwing a rock into a pond with ripple effects in the school, church and the community, and there is often a search for a simple explanation. These ripple effects have never been greater with the existence of social networks. School staff and parents should monitor what is being posted on social networks sites in the aftermath of a suicide. Suicide is a multifaceted event, and sociological, psychological, biological, and physiological elements were all present to some degree. The suicide is no one’s fault and yet is everyone’s fault, and suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility. Many individuals who died by suicide had untreated mental illnesses—most likely depression—and it is important that everyone is aware of the resources available in their school and community so that the necessary treatment can be obtained. It is always important that everyone knows the warning signs of suicide; they are outlined in great detail on website references in this document. Isn’t someone or something to blame for this suicide? The suicide victim made a very poor choice and there is no one to blame. The decision to die by suicide involved every interaction and experience throughout the young person’s entire life, up until the moment her or she died, and yet it did not have to happen. It is no one’s fault. No one person, no one thing is ever to blame. How can I cope with this suicide? It is important to remember what or who has helped you cope when you have had to deal with sad things in your life before. Please turn to the important adults in your life for help and share your feelings with them. It is important to maintain normal routines, proper sleeping and eating habits, and regular exercise. Please avoid drugs and alcohol. Resiliency, which is the ability to bounce back from adversity, is a learned behavior. Everyone does their best when surrounded by friends and family who care about them and when they view the future in a positive way. What is an appropriate memorial to a suicide victim? The most appropriate memorial is a living one, such as a scholarship fund or contributions to support suicide prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (afsp.org ) and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center ( sprc.org ), published an excellent guide for postvention entitled After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools , that is available on both of their websites. It was first published in 2011 and revised in 2018. The guide provides specific guidelines to balance the often- felt need that students have to do something after a suicide without glorifying the suicide victim, which might contribute to other teenagers considering suicide. Each Florida county school district is encouraged to develop a memorialization policy that treats all student deaths the same regardless of the cause of death, popularity, or the socioeconomic status of the family. How serious is the problem of youth suicide? In 2018, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for youth over ten years of age and the tenth-leading cause of death for all Americans. More than 48,000 Americans, including over 2,000 school-age youth, die by suicide annually, as suicide rates have increased for Americans but most notably for middle-school-age girls. Many young people think about suicide. The YRBSS for 2019 found that 36.7 percent of high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two weeks or more in the last year, an increase from 2017 results; 18.8 percent of high school students reported seriously considering suicide, an increase from 2017; and 8.9 percent of high school students actually made a suicide attempt in the last year, an increase from 2017. Ninth-grade students are the most at risk. National research has found that talking with youth about suicide does not cause them to think of it and in fact provides the opportunity for them to relieve anxiety and unburden themselves. The 2019 national data and Florida results were outlined in the introduction section of S.T.E.P.S. 91