Sometimes it’s obvious when a student is struggling. Grades slip, participation
dwindles, or there are angry outbursts in class. In these cases, school
personnel reach out and help. However, what about struggling students who go
unnoticed?
With up to one in five people experiencing depression before adulthood, and
suicide being the third leading cause of death for 15 to 19 year olds in the
U.S., student mental health is a major concern for staff in high schools across
the country.
Dr. Michelle A. Scott, from the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Columbia University of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, took a new look at
school-based screening to see if it was worthwhile to reach out to all students
and assess their risk factors for suicide.
Scott and colleagues had 1,729 students from seven high schools in the New York
area complete the Columbia Suicide Screen for suicide risk. Of these, 489
students had a positive result, indicating that they were at risk for suicide.
It’s easy to assume that school personnel were already aware that these
students were at risk, however, 34% of the positive results were for students
that staff did not realize were struggling with a significant mental health
problem.
Screening should not replace other means that staff employ to identify students
at risk, as 13% of students that staff were concerned about did not score
positive on the screening. However, screening can serve as an effective tool to
reach out broadly to all students and identify signals that may be otherwise
missed.
Personnel within a school may agree that school-based screening would be helpful
to their students but may not know how to begin implementing such a program.
The SOS Signs of Suicide® prevention program developed by the non-profit
organization Screening for Mental Health® (SMH) provides the guidance and
materials school staff need to move ahead with implementing a
depression/suicide curriculum for their students.
The SOS program combines screening for depression and suicide risk factors along
with a video presentation that uses the ACT® (Acknowledge, Care, and Tell)
message to teach students how to recognize, respond to, and report an instance
when they notice a friend is depressed or considering suicide. The program
includes a step-by-step implementation guide as well as all needed resources
for engaging students, staff and parents in the program.
SOS has been used in high schools since 2001 and is the only school-based
program to show a reduction in suicide attempts (by 40%) in a randomized
controlled study (American Journal of Public Health, March, 2004). Due to
requests from participating schools, SMH has expanded the program to include a
version for use in middle schools, as well as a program that utilizes the ACT
message to educate students and staff about self-injury.
To learn more about the SOS program please visit our website at:
https://gold-barracuda-130963.hostingersite.com/schools/index.aspx