Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

know that tomorrow is the day a year ago that your friend died by suicide. That might be on your mind. I’m here to listen if you’d like to talk about it.” Studies have clarified that we underestimate the impact of a suicide and focus on too few people being at risk. Studies have also found that losing a friend to suicide might affect classmates and schools for several years. I know that is something that people reading the answer to this question do not want to hear, but it certainly emphasizes the points I’ve made about schools who have lost students to suicide being in this for the long haul. I have met with high school seniors here in Florida that shared many classmates of theirs had died and even referred to their class as cursed. A large school superintendent shared with me the sadness they felt at graduation time when parents of deceased students attended the graduation ceremony in memory of their child. It’s necessary to provide support for students immediately after the suicide of a friend and for many years to come. 31. I am a school counselor and I know that one of my students has been suicidal. Can I share information with his teachers? I believe strongly that suicide prevention in schools is a team effort and that teachers need to know that suicide has been a concern for a student. Teachers then know to be alert for even subtle warning signs and if the student exhibits any warning signs of suicide, the student will be escorted to your office. Teachers do not need to know a lot of details but need to be notified that suicide has been a concern. I’m emphasizing being escorted to the counselor, as on some occasions such as the student typing on the computer, “I just want to kill myself,” the student was told immediately to go to the counseling office from the classroom, but instead, the student left campus creating a potentially dangerous situation. 32. Why is it often late in the school day when, as the administrator, I now know a student is suicidal? Buses are coming in a few minutes. What should I do? I know these situations are very challenging but the student in question needs to stay on campus and a suicide assessment conducted, parents notified, and the student handed off to parents, mobile crisis response teams, or law enforcement personnel. 33. I have called the parents of suicidal students, and they refused to come to the school and, on at least one occasion, said just let the student walk home. What should I do? If a parent does not take the suicidal behavior of their child seriously, then I believe we have no choice but to call protective services as it is negligence on the part of the parent. I am aware of one legal case in Maryland where the parents of the student suspected of being suicidal upon notification insisted that the student be allowed to walk home. Unfortunately, the student who was allowed to walk home died by suicide later that night at his home. They settled out of court. I personally chose not to take the case on the side of the plaintiff as I believed that once the student arrived home with parents present, and the parents were notified of the suicidal concerns, that the student became their responsibility. The best advice I can give you in this situation is to insist that parents come to school to pick up their child, and if they refuse, then use law enforcement or mobile crisis response teams to transfer responsibility to adults other than those at school. 34. As a school psychologist I find it difficult to discuss gun ownership with parents even though I am aware that their child is suicidal. I know means restriction is very important, but what advice do you have for me? I t is critical that everyone know that perhaps the single greatest suicide prevention strategy is to reduce access to lethal means for a Florida S.T.E.P.S.