Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

components of the ACT motto.” I also want to emphasize the SOS program is not expensive, and I believe it is the best program to come along in decades. Students tell things to each other that they are unlikely to share with adults. The SOS program teaches students how to respond and stresses getting adult help. More information is available at mindwise.org . 20. Are affluent communities at a higher risk for suicide? S pecifically, I have been involved just in the last few years in responding to suicide contagion and clusters in New Smyrna Beach, Florida; Fairfax County, Virginia; Palo Alto, California; Jordan, Utah; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. I believe all of those communities would meet the definition of being affluent. Youth suicide, however, crosses all racial and socioeconomic boundaries in our country. In particular, the suicide rate for black youth has increased. It is difficult to clearly ascertain whether or not affluence contributed to the suicides in those communities. I might argue that clusters in other less affluent communities may have occurred but stayed under the radar by not being a focus of media stories. As discussed in question one above, the CDC has been studying suicide contagion in adolescents. They have identified a number of factors, including family reluctance to get mental health services for their children, substance abuse, gun availability, harassment of LGBTQ students, and academic pressure. Those epidemiology studies from the CDC need to continue. My hope will be that school communities and the parents who tragically lost their sons and daughters to suicide will contribute to those studies because it can only help us in identifying at-risk youth and preventing future suicides. To summarize, my belief is that affluent communities are at higher risk, but we don’t have substantial research to clearly state that is the case. 21. Is there an increased risk of suicide for students with ADHD or sensory issues? I am not aware of increased suicide risk for students with sensory issues and hypersensitivity. There is growing research that links attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and suicide. Children with ADHD often have coexisting mental health issues and, if their ADHD is untreated, they are especially at risk for frustration, school failure, and depression. Parents are encouraged to obtain the proper treatment for a child identified with ADHD. Personnel such as physicians, psychologists, and school counselors, in addition to parents, are encouraged to monitor these children for signs of depression. Mental health professionals and parents should not be afraid to inquire directly about suicidal thoughts, and if the child discloses suicidal thoughts or actions, then a safety plan needs to be developed. 22. How can parents best address the “choking game” with their children? T his question has to do with the “choking game,” which goes by many different terms, such as pass out or black out. It’s very unfortunate that it is called a “game” because it can be deadly. Most young people learn about it from another student at school or online. The activity is often engaged in by a pair of students. One young person might ask the second young person to choke them until they pass out. You must be wondering, why they do this and what is the possible benefit? The benefit is that the oxygen to your brain is stopped through the activity and then returns to your brain when the choking has stopped, causing a high. Students do it to get the high. The literature discusses that a number of students have gotten the message that drugs are bad, which is a very important message, but they did not get the message that the choking activity is bad. Some schools have found “good kids,” such as kids who play on sports teams or who are on student council, actually engaging in this behavior, and they do it to experience that sense of a high. The activity is particularly Florida S.T.E.P.S.