Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

It is my hope that in the next few years, at least for upper elementary, we come out with programs for students that will emphasize that 800-SUICIDE or 800-273-TALK is the national crisis helpline that can be called every moment of the day. Additionally, crisistextline.org is available 24/7 by inputting 741741 and texting START or HELP. Frankly, most of the calls to the helpline are not about suicide. They are from kids who are experiencing trauma, bullying, or loss; don’t know where their parents are; don’t have anything to eat in their home; their electricity has been turned off; or they’ve had a really bad day at school. So, I’d really like to see the crisis help and text lines as something that we share with all elementary students. In addition, for students who have an iPhone, if you say to Siri you are thinking of killing yourself, the immediate response is to offer to connect you the national crisis helpline. There is a new program from the state of Washington’s Youth Suicide Prevention Programs for fifth- graders, called Riding the Waves, that focuses on healthy emotional development, depression, and anxiety. More information is available at crisisconnections.org/riding-the-waves . 27. Will talking to students about suicide or dangerous games put the ideas in their head? I want to reiterate the reason we have so many suicides that occur is because we do not talk about it. Talking about suicide does not plant the idea in someone’s head. 28. How do we respond when our child says, “I’m the worst kid in the world!” when they get in trouble or make a bad decision? Is this a warning sign? W hat should we say when we have a child who consistently berates themselves, puts themselves down? First, we need to be able to clearly let our children know all of the things we love and appreciate about them, both in our schools and our homes. I like to begin every conference about a child by asking the adult present, tell me the things you truly love and appreciate about this child. Frankly, I am the most concerned when a person tells me one thing and then goes to the negative or they do not tell me even one positive thing about their child. I believe that all children do far more right than wrong. We all do the best with the 5-to-1 rule, which means we receive 5 positives/ compliments about our behavior for every negative comment. Parents need to clearly stress positive qualities for their child. Most importantly, how they love and appreciate the child for who they are. But what if your child continues these derogatory statements and they have been pervasive and persistent? Then you need to get mental health treatment for your child. Get them involved in treatment to help build up their self-esteem. Additionally, it is really important that all students find their niche. What do I mean by this? Our children need to find an activity where they feel successful. It could be running down the field in football, playing chess, reading books, volunteering in a retirement home, or tutoring a younger child. We simply need to put all children in a position where they are doing something they feel good about. This can go a long way toward alleviating situations in their life that are not going so well. Find an activity that your child can participate in, feels good about it, and has a sense of accomplishment about what he or she is doing. 29. How can I help my child who reached out in a positive way to a child who died by suicide? T his question brings up an important point because many young people have lost someone they knew to suicide. Some of your children may have even reached out and tried to help and yet their friend or classmate still died by suicide. It’s important that young people know that while suicide is preventable, we cannot prevent every suicide. The young person who Florida S.T.E.P.S.