Teen Talk Tuesday - Suicide Prevention Month
- Christina Alliance
- Sep 8, 2020
- 2 min read
9/8/2020 - Awareness is Key to Prevention
According to the 2018 data chart produced by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC using WISQARS (TM), suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10-14 AND the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 15-24.
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10-14 AND...15-24...but there are usually signs.
But there are usually signs. These age groups are often ignored because they're considered to 'have bad attitudes' or be 'overly dramatic.' Whether your child, or someone else's, please pay attention and take it seriously. Sometimes, those sarcastic remarks or withdrawn behaviors are just funky teenage attitudes...but, sometimes, they're not.
And with the start of the school year, especially the COVID-19 school year, now is a great time to contact your local schools and find out how they're working to prevent suicide. Not all schools are conducting fully remote-learning, and those that are may not do so next semester. So, how are they planning to recognize and support youth in crisis? Do they have policies and strategies in place? If so, what are they? If not, you can direct them to the the American Association of Suicidology website at www.suicidology.org for resources they can take advantage of.
For more information on how you personally can support suicide prevention or participate in related activities, check out https://www.aas365.org/ or https://www.bethe1to.com/.
And if you know of a young person, or anyone for that matter, in crisis right now, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can connect them to a local crisis line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) (Also provides online chat support).
There's also the:
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 in the US or Canada
The Trevor Project 1-866-488-7386 or thetrevorproject.org; or Trans Lifeline 877-565-8860 or translifeline.org
Remember, if we, as adults are feeling stressed and anxious during this time, our kids are too, and to a heightened extent. We must take time to check in with them regularly this season and be sure to not let their flippant attitudes or sarcasm annoy us so that we fail to REALLY see them.
How do you help your youth when they are feeling down? If you've successfully helped a youth in crisis before, what strategies worked? Do you know of any strategies or other resources to help youth in crisis? Please share your thoughts in the comments below, and feel free to share this post!
Hi! I'm Christina and I'm an online math tutor with 20+ years experience mentoring, teaching and tutoring young people. My goal is to empower students all over the world to succeed by helping them overcome their struggles and anxiety in one of their toughest academic areas, math! If you are interested in 1-1 assistance for yourself or your child, feel free to contact me: www.cmamathtutoring.com/contact-me.
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