Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

13. Should schools promote social and emotional wellness? A bsolutely! I practiced as a psychologist full time in the schools for 25 years and have been concerned that too much focus in recent years has been on student academic performance and overall school academic ratings. I strongly support the theory of Abraham Maslow, who emphasized in his pyramid theory that the foundation for all of us is first having physical needs taken care of and feeling safe and secure, with a sense of belonging. National research has found a very significant factor for overall adolescent well-being is whether or not they feel connected to their school. I hope that every student sincerely feels like someone at school cares if they show up today or not. I wrote an article for the National School Board Journal a number of years ago called “The Fourth R—Relationships.” I now teach in a university and I learn my student names immediately and sincerely care about their hopes and dreams and focus on how I can help them be successful. I use many activities in my classes that I learned in my previous school position where, in addition to directing psychological services, I supervised the adventure-based outdoor counseling program that used high elements to build self-esteem and low elements to increase problem solving and connections to others. 14. How can I differentiate between “normal” stress and anxiety and teen depression? T his question refers to normal stress, anxiety, and teenage depression. In addition, this question brings up the term anxiety. I think it is important that it be addressed from several avenues, including sleep deprivation. The research is very clear that unfortunately many adolescents are not getting enough sleep. There are a number of factors that contribute to this, including the fact that, unfortunately, teenagers are not wired to go to bed early and the fact that many secondary schools in this country start too early. The national recommendation is that no secondary school starts before 8:30 a.m. One of the factors that contributes significantly to teenagers’ sleep deprivation is all of their technological devices. I suggest that parents decide the bedtime for their child and simply say, “I need your laptop now, I need your cell phone and iPad, and I will charge them and hand them back to you in the morning.” National research has estimated that as many as one-third of teenagers wake in the middle of the night to check to see what might have posted about them. Taking charge of technology is something parents must do to ensure that their child is getting adequate sleep. Inadequate sleep is connected to anxiety, frustration, hopelessness, and depression for young people. Anxiety may also be the result of academic demands and pressure on young people. It was only a few years ago that a young person would be accepted to any state university of their choosing when they graduated from high school. Unfortunately, our flagship state universities have increased standards so it might be necessary to be in the top 8 to 10 percent of your class to be accepted into these universities. This has added a lot of pressure to young people, as parents and grandparents were able to go to that flagship university but their own acceptance is in doubt or they may have been rejected for admission. I like to share with young people who are experiencing these difficulties that I did not make the top 25 percent of my own high school class in Kansas. And, in fact, later I was kicked out of the University of Kansas for poor scholarship. It took me a couple of years to find myself, and frankly, military service helped. T oday, I am proud to tell you that I have three degrees, including a doctoral degree, and have authored and coauthored five books. The sentiment that needs to be echoed by staff members and parents is that not everything is going to work out perfectly. It is okay to go to a junior college. I actually attended two of them. Florida S.T.E.P.S.