Hello. My name is Abigayle, and I’m 15 years old. I feel that  my high school doesn’t have a policy on how to deal with suicidal teenagers, or anyone dealing with depression/bullying/self-harm. I really need some help from you. I’m trying to change the policy, and I’m trying to make it better for everyone in my school dealing with things that are bothering them. Last year,  I was very depressed and I wanted help, but I didn’t know how to ask for help. I didn’t want to sound weak, and I truly believe that there are more people out there. So, I was just wondering. Does anyone feel that their school has an adequate policy on suicide/depression prevention? If so, what is it? If not, what would you do to change it. Also, I’d just like to say that ANYONE who needs help, I am hear for you.
share your suicide story
Report Post
Please log in to report posts
5 comments
You sound like a great person. I am long gone from high school, but mine was the same way. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a real solution to this problem. The only solution would be to have people in a position to help people like us, who truly understand us. And sadly, there are so few of those people out there, chances of them ending up working in a high school are slim to none… Someone who pretends to understand(like all the “counselors” at my high school), made things worse for me. It made me feel more alone, more isolated. I knew they didn’t understand one bit. Sadly, I think for anyone suffering from serious mental illness in high school will most likely have to find help elsewhere. It is a shame….
Hi –
I did a Google search for “school suicide depression policy” and came up with a few results. If I post the links here, this comment will probably get stuck in moderation. However, here is one example of what I found:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
“The Board of Education recognizes that depression and self-destruction are problems of increasing severity among children and adolescents. A student who suffers the psychological disability of depression cannot benefit fully from the educational program of the schools, and a student who has attempted self-destruction poses a danger both to himself/herself and to other students.
The Board directs all school personnel to be alert to the student who exhibits signs of unusual depression or who threatens or attempts suicide. Any such signs or the report of such signs from another student or staff member should be taken with the utmost seriousness.
The Superintendent shall develop and implement administrative guidelines whereby members of the professional staff understand how to use an intervention procedure which includes the following:
Step 1 – Stabilization
Step 2 – Assessment of the Risk
Step 3 – Use of Appropriate Risk Procedure
Step 4 – Communication with Appropriate Parties
Step 5 – Follow-up
Throughout any intervention, it is essential that Board policies and District guidelines regarding confidentiality be observed at all times.
SUICIDE INTERVENTION PROCESS
In compliance with Board of Education policy, any time a staff member encounters a situation in which a student appears to be contemplating suicide; the following process should be followed carefully.
Step One – Stabilize the Situation”
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The policy is several pages long and includes assessment / reporting forms. This particular policy is near the top of the Google results.
Good luck in your quest… It’s quite admirable what you’re doing.
DIstantroad; In writing that sounds great, the problem is that no public high school I am aware of follows anything close to that. I am sure they all have these types of “policies,” but the issue is that they are supposed to be followed by people who don’t understand these issues, and therefore are never put to good use.. The only solution would be to have a solid policy, backed by people who truly understand us.. And sadly, I don’t think that will happen.
I also wish her luck, and agree, what she is doing is EXTREMELY admirable. I hope she proves my pessimistic view wrong.
Like anything else, Rajicase, the effectiveness of the policy probably varies by location, day of the week, lunar cycle, and planetary alignment. Indeed, it is easy to put a policy on paper but much much much harder to make it effective in “real world” usage. Some school districts have learned the hard way… from actual suicides or from the litigation which sometimes follows. Sooner or later, however, most districts will learn that they better be doing something right when it comes to suicide prevention.
I SINCERELY hope you are right. I am very pessimistic by nature, and this is no different. But I hope that things do change for the better in this regard?