Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Scott Poland, Ed.D., has presented more than 1,000 suicide prevention trainings and has responded to many suicide clusters. He has often been the primary speaker to parents after many tragedies. Here is a compilation of 60+ questions he has fielded over the years. 1. How much does academic pressure affect kids and increase stress and depression? T here are a multitude of problems that contribute to the factors of youth suicide, and epidemiology studies done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified a number of factors. Those factors have included family problems, substance abuse, academic pressure, access to lethal means, and issues that have to do with harassment and bullying—especially for LGBTQ students. Academic pressure has been identified as a possible contributing factor. In looking at all these factors together, the most significant one is mental illness and most likely depression. 2. Why do you think the suicide rate is so high in the western United States? T he states with the highest risk for suicide are all in the west, for example Alaska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and Colorado. There have been many theories about why, but these states have a large percentage of Native Americans who have high suicide rates. The rural nature of such areas may exacerbate contributing factors such as the lack of mental health resources, the stigma that is still associated with getting help for yourself or a member of your family that has a mental illness, and gun access. Another theory relates to elevation. Although there is not definitive research on this, there is some evidence that antidepressants may not be as effective when they are taken at high elevations and that oxygen deprivation affects brain chemistry. I think it is really important to emphasize that other locations in the nation have also been singled out for having high youth suicide rates. I personally have worked in the aftermath of high suicide rates and contagion in the last few years in New Smyrna Beach, Florida; Fairfax County, Virginia; Colorado Springs, Colorado; St. Joseph, Missouri; Palo Alto, California; Jordan, Utah; and Rapid City, South Dakota. The fact is that every state is facing this problem. Local community, state, and school leaders must take many concrete steps to prevent further suicides of youth. 3. Do you know of any specific filtering software or apps that you have found to be effective with teens? T here are a number of applications for both telephones and computers that can help parents be more aware of websites that their teens are visiting and communications they are receiving. I think the most important piece of advice I can give in answering this question is that every school has technology specialists who can respond and provide more specific information to answer this question. The one point I’d like to make is that not all parents are going to need these applications. They should Appendix 3 Scott Poland Answers Questions from Parents, School Personnel, and Students Florida S.T.E.P.S.