NCJ Number
239101
Date Published
2012
Length
230 pages
Annotation
This Toolkit is designed to help high schools, school districts, and their partners in designing and implementing strategies to prevent suicide and promote behavioral health among their students.
Abstract
The tools are intended for use in achieving five objectives. First, the tools assist schools in assessing their ability to prevent suicide among students and respond to suicides that may occur. A second objective is to provide tools that assist in understanding strategies that can assist students who are at risk for suicide. A third objective of the tools is to provide understanding of how to respond to the suicide of a student or other member of the school community. A fourth objective is to identify suicide prevention programs and activities that are effective for individual schools and respond to the needs and cultures of each school's students. A fifth objective of the tools is to assist in integrating suicide prevention into activities that fulfill other aspects of the school's mission, such as preventing the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Chapter 1, "Getting Started," provides tools that acquaint school staff and community partners with various facts on suicide among youth, such as risk and protective factors for suicide, warning signs, and prevention activities. The links between suicide and substance abuse and/or bullying are also addressed in the tools of this chapter. The second chapter provides tools for the development of protocols that can identify and assist students at risk for suicide. The third chapter presents tools for how to respond after a student has committed suicide, which encompasses short-term and long-term responses that assist the victim's family, classmates, and the community in dealing with the suicide and associated events. Other chapters provide tools for staff education and training; parent/guardian education and outreach; student programs; and screening. Resources and handouts