Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

may be affected by parental reluctance for their child to receive antidepressant medication and a lack of information about their effectiveness. I believe strongly that a careful diagnosis of depression needs to be made and medication needs to be monitored frequently. I specifically request that medications be monitored weekly for the first month after an adolescent starts taking an antidepressant. If your child is on an antidepressant and you or your child are not pleased with the medication, please go back and talk to the prescribing physician and share your concerns. 9. How can we engage parents who are in denial or who don’t want to talk about youth suicide in our community? T he topic of suicide is a very difficult one. In my career, I have found many parents, school leaders, and even personal friends and colleagues are reluctant to talk about suicide. Many people believe the myth that if we talk about suicide, people may consider suicide for the first time ever. Nothing could be further from the truth. The U.S. surgeon general commented, “More than 48,000 suicides happen annually in this country. We need to talk about this more in our homes, our schools, our places of worship, and our communities.” Unfortunately, many students personally know someone who died by suicide. This reinforces the reality that we need to talk about it more. Any discussion should always focus on prevention and using crisis helplines, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-SUICIDE or 800-273-TALK. Young people today are very in tuned with texting and, therefore, it is important that they are all aware of the Crisis Text Line crisistextline.org . I f you are aware of a family in your community that is hesitant to talk about suicide, then the best way to open that conversation is through listening. Begin with a simple statement and question: I’m really sorry that suicides have affected your family. How can I help? The more you can demonstrate a willingness to actively listen, the better. The greatest problem we have that limits suicide prevention is the misinformation and the myths surrounding this subject and our reluctance to talk about it. 10. Is there any significance to the location that a student chooses for a suicide attempt? T he vast majority of youth suicides occur in their own home, after school hours, and when their family members are most likely to be in the home. I’ve always believed that most suicidal individuals do, in fact, want to be stopped, and they set it up hoping that someone will figure out what they are planning. A suicidal individual is experiencing unendurable pain, is not thinking clearly, and sees no alternatives or a way out. Very rarely does a suicide occur at school, however this has happened in a number of schools in our country. My response to a suicide happening at school would be to not make a dramatic conclusion about the location that was chosen, but instead to focus on the young person, who very likely, wanted to be stopped and hoped that someone would recognize the warning signs they had displayed and get them help. 11. Are tattoos and/or piercings a safe and culturally acceptable way of cutting? T attoos and piercings, especially for the younger generation, have become socially acceptable, but I am old-fashioned and believe that children need to discuss with parents whether getting a tattoo or piercing is acceptable within the family. I emphasized earlier the importance of parents being involved in their child’s life. What I really hope is that there is free and easy communication around the dinner table several nights a week between children and their parents about Florida S.T.E.P.S.