The suicide of a young person has been compared to a rock thrown into a pond with a ripple effect in the schools, churches, synagogues and greater community.
While the name, Barbara Mares, may not ring any bells, her story will have lasting implications for schools and communities that continue to ignore nationwide recommendations for school-based programs designed to prevent youth suicide. Following the suicides of her two sons within seven months of each other, Mares led the push for a state court order forcing the Shawnee Mission School District of Johnson County, Kansas to stand trial for alleged staff negligence in connection with her sons’ deaths.
A few years later in Sarpy County, Nebraska, nine youths—seven boys and two girls ages 13 to 19, took their own lives within a span of twenty-six months across four neighboring school districts. The local school and community leaders recognized the contagion, located experts and implemented best practices recommendations and the suicides stopped. When done correctly, postvention is designed to address and prevent the issues that may lead to suicide contagion, which is defined as more suicides or suicide attempts than are expected in a community. There are estimates indicating between 100 and 200 teenagers die in suicide clusters each year.
There are several common attributes that occur in communities that experience suicide contagion, including:
- little community awareness of youth suicide
- rapid growth in the community
- substance abuse problems
- massive schools
- lack of a sense of belonging
- material emphasis
- no crisis center and limited school-based and/or community-based mental health resources
Despite countless reports, white papers, court cases and even pleas from groups like the National Association of School Psychologists and the American School Health Association, thousands of secondary schools fail to implement suicide prevention programs. It is estimated fewer than 20% of the nation’s 100,000 elementary and secondary schools have implemented these guidelines.
Resolutions and “awareness” campaigns are no substitute for written protocols and staff training. The grim numbers, from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey published by the Centers for Disease Control, found close to 14% of high school students nationwide have seriously considered attempting suicide. Other data from this report reveals that 10.9% had made a suicide plan and 6.3% had attempted suicide. The study provides a quick snapshot of the emotional instability of students and highlights the need for continued suicide prevention programs.
This data combined with the more recent media coverage of youth suicides sends a clear message that schools must have a stake in the emotional well-being of their students.
While providing suicide prevention education may seem like a natural extension of a school’s mandate to educate the whole child, in the last few years it has been left to the courts and legislators to require schools districts to implement such prevention programs. Legal recourse is one path in these situations, but it is a hard, expensive and long fight for such a worthy cause, especially when there are programs already in place saving lives. Whatever your position, title, role or responsibility in your organization, we all have a stake in what has become a public health crisis.
According the CDC, there are five postvention guidelines designed to help communities manage the crisis of a youth suicide. They include:
- Involve all aspects of the community, including hospital and emergency personnel, community mental health, local and state agencies, clergy, school leaders, parent groups, survivor groups, police, media and crisis hotline personnel.
- A public response must minimize sensationalism, avoid glorification but include prevention information and community resources.
- Immediate evaluation and counseling of close friends of the victim(s) and those known to be suicidal.
- Immediate implementation of the restriction of young people’s access to lethal means in the community.
- Understanding that no single agency can stop a suicide cluster alone and the postvention journey must emphasize prevention.
While youth suicide is no one’s fault, it’s the responsibility of every school to implement suicide prevention programs.
See below for more information or to find a program for your school:
Dr. Scott Poland is the Past President of the National Association of School Psychologists and a past Chairman and current member of the National Emergency Assistance Team. He is the author of four books and a videotape series on school crisis.