For Educators
What to do if a student comes to you for help?
- Know your schools procedure for dealing with potentially suicidal students and ensure that protocol is followed
- Be aware of the warning signs and depression, acknowledge when these signs are present in your students, and make note of any sudden changes in behavior or demeanor
- Be aware that student’s writings can also indicate cause for concern, especially if they deal with themes of hopelessness, violence toward self or others, or death
- NOTIFY THE APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY OF YOUR CONCERN!
- It is better to “overreact” or be wrong than to do nothing and face potentially fatal consequences
- SOS Signs of Suicide teaches students to ACT and tell a TRUSTED ADULT if they are concerned about themselves or a friend – YOU COULD BE THAT TRUSTED ADULT
What to do when approached by students asking for help?
- Once a student has disclosed the need for HELP (whether directly or indirectly through someone else or even a written assignment) DO NOT LEAVE THE STUDENT ALONE
- Listen to what the student has to say, observe his or her demeanor and avoid making the student feel embarrassed or guilty
- Offer words of encouragement but DO NOT PROMISE CONFIDENTIALITY. Acting to prevent a potential suicide always overrides the need to honor confidentiality between that individual and the student
- Advise the student that you are going with him/her to Mr./Mrs. _____ (indicate the individual and their position). He/She knows what needs to be done to make sure that you will get the professional help you need to deal with these feelings safely
- The appropriate person (designated in school procedure) should immediately contact the student’s parent(s) or guardian and work with them to make whatever treatment referral is necessary
To learn more about our programs or to inquire about getting our programs into your school contact Jodie Segal, Director of Education, at jodiesegal@elyssasmission.org.
Read Article on Self-Injury: Reaching And Helping Youth Who Self-Injure – Suggestions For Teachers (pdf)
CHICAGO – June 26, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today signed a bill into law that will require school social workers for grades seven through 12 to undergo suicide prevention training. The new law will help school officials identify the warning signs of suicidal behavior in young adults and help prevent suicides.
“We must do everything we can to protect our youngest citizens,” said Governor Quinn. “This new law will help save young lives by making sure schools are better-equipped to monitor suicidal behavior and know when and how to intervene.”
Suicide Prevention Training for School Personnel
School age children, adolescents, and teens are completing suicide at alarming rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14 and for young people ages 15-24. As children and teens spend a significant amount of their young lives in school, the personnel that interact with them on a daily basis are in a prime position to recognize the signs of suicide and make the appropriate referrals for help. To be able to do this, they will need effective training to acquire the necessary skills and confidence to intervene with youth at-risk, and mandated training is one way to ensure that all school personnel have a baseline understanding of suicide risk and the referral process.
Suicide prevention training for school personnel is targeted within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP), which specifically indicates teachers, school staff, and school health personnel as key gatekeepers, defined as those who “regularly come into contact with individuals or families in distress.” The NSSP explicitly asserts that these key gatekeepers “must be trained to recognize the behavioral patterns and other factors that place individuals at risk for suicide and be equipped with effective strategies to intervene before the behaviors and early signs of risk evolve further.”
School personnel must not only be well-equipped to identify and communicate with their students about suicidal behaviors, but they must also be able to accurately discuss these issues with each other. The NSSP clarifies that “school staff and faculty are not expected to make clinical diagnoses, but rather to be able to recognize developing signs and symptoms associated with mental disorders, substance abuse, or suicidal risk. Providing them with the vocabulary, techniques, and skills to be comfortable with these issues will enhance their ability to intervene effectively and make appropriate referrals.”
State Mandated Training, (5 states) — Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, and Wisconsin
Recent media attention on youth suicide and the role that bullying may have played in youth decisions to complete suicide has led to an increase in discussion on both issues and the link between them. AFSP must continue to be a part of that discussion to ensure that safe messages are being delivered to the public — that suicide is preventable and that bullying is one of many contributing factors to a young person’s decision to complete suicide – and to ensure that those messages are delivered safely and without increased risk for contagion. Part of that discussion is and will continue to be a call for effective laws and policies that deal with bullying and cyberbullying behaviors in the school system.
Law Expands Definition of Bullying, Requires Gang Prevention Training, Creates Bullying Prevention Task Force
CHICAGO – June 27, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today signed a bill into law that is aimed at reducing bullying in schools. Senate Bill 3266 expands the definition of bullying, requires gang prevention training in Illinois schools, and creates the School Bullying Prevention Task Force to examine the causes of bullying.
“Students do their best in school when they are able to focus and concentrate on their studies. Students who are being bullied for any reason are not able to do their best,” said Governor Quinn. “This new law helps schools protect students so they can succeed both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Bullying negatively affects the atmosphere of a school and disrupts the learning environment. Bullying is not something educators have to accept.
It takes the entire school community to create an inviting school where everyone feels they belong and are safe. Working together, administrators, teachers, school staff, parents, and students can help stop bullying in your school. How you and your entire school community respond to bullying makes a huge difference in both the moment the bullying occurs and preventing bullying in the future.
Bullying negatively affects the atmosphere of the school and disrupts the learning environment:
- Student achievement suffers among both the students who are bullied and those who engage in bullying. Students who bully and students who are bullied by others are more likely to skip and/or drop out of school.
- Teacher morale declines amid harmful social dynamics in the classroom that interfere with discipline and learning.
- Adult-student relationships suffer. Students who witness bullying can become fearful and develop the belief that the adults are not in control or are uncaring.
- Parent confidence and trust in the school erodes when students experience bullying or are accused of bullying others.
There are a number of things educators can do to make their school safer and prevent bullying. The following are suggestions for how to approach bullying in schools:
- Assess bullying in your school. Determine where and when bullying occurs.
- Increase adult supervision in bullying “hot spots.” Work with support staff, such as cafeteria staff, bus stop and playground monitors and bus drivers, who may observe bullying incidents that unfold outside the classroom.
- Involve students, parents, teachers, and staff in bullying prevention. Establish a school safety committee and task force with a coordinator whose job it is to plan, implement and evaluate your school’s bullying prevention program.
- Encourage teachers and staff to file incident reports of bullying. Keep track of critical incidents, and assess and evaluate your bullying prevention program.
- Create policies and rules. Create a mission statement, code of conduct, and school-wide rules that establishes a climate in which bullying is not acceptable. Disseminate and communicate widely.
- Integrate bullying prevention material into curriculum and school activities. Implement curriculum-based, class-level discussions and activities about bullying (e.g., role-playing activities) at each grade level.
- Promote extracurricular activities. Reinforce positive social interactions in an inclusive environment.
- Raise awareness about your bullying prevention initiative. Launch an awareness campaign to make the objectives known to the school, parents, and community members.
- Establish a school culture of acceptance, tolerance and respect. Take advantage of staff meetings, assemblies, class and parent meetings, newsletters to families, the school website, and the student handbook.
Bullying in schools is a frequent and serious problem. It is important to monitor and report student behavior consistently. Learn more go to www.stopbullying.gov
Instead of happening face-to-face, cyberbulling happens through the use of technology such as computers, cell phones and other electronic devices. Cyberbullying peaks around the end of middle school and the beginning of high school.
Examples of cyberbullying include:
- Sending hurtful, rude, or mean text messages to others
- Spreading rumors or lies about others by e-mail or on social networks
- Creating websites, videos or social media profiles that embarrass, humiliate, or make fun of others
Bullying online is very different from face-to-face bullying because messages and images can be:
- Sent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
- Shared be shared to a very wide audience
- Sent anonymously
Research on cyberbullying has found that students involved are more likely to:
- Be unwilling to attend school
- Receive poor grades
- Have lower self-esteem
- Have more health problems
Cyberbullying can have particular affects on those who are targeted. Research has found that young people who have been cyberbullied are significantly more likely to:
- Use alcohol and drugs
- Skip school
- Experience in-person bullying or victimization
Schools play an important role in ensuring that activities of kids, teens and young adults are in a safe environment, in school or in cyberspace.
- Educate students, teachers, and other staff members about cyberbullying, its dangers, and what to do if someone is cyberbullied.
- Discuss cyberbullying with students. They may be knowledgeable about cyberbullying and they may have good ideas about how to prevent and address it.
- Be sure that your school’s rules and policies address cyberbullying.
- Closely monitor students’ use of computers at school. Use filtering and tracking software on all computers, but don’t rely solely on this software to screen out cyberbullying and other problematic online behavior.
Investigate reports of cyberbullying immediately. If cyberbullying occurs on-campus or through the school district’s internet system, you are obligated to take action. If the cyberbullying occurs off-campus, you can still help. Remember even cyberbullying that occurs off-campus can affect how students behave and relate to each other at school.
- Closely monitor the behavior of the students involved at school for all forms of bullying.
- Investigate to see if those who are cyberbullied need support from a school counselor or school-based health professional.
- Notify parents of students involved in cyberbullying.
- Talk with all students about the negative effects of cyberbullying.
Contact law enforcement. Notify the police if the aggressive behavior is criminal. The following may constitute a crime:
- Threats of violence
- Child pornography and sexting
- Taking a photo image of someone in a place where he or she would expect privacy
- Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes
- Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages
- Sexual exploitation
- Extortion
Source: http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/cyberbullying.html#cat20448
