WASHINGTON — The recent suicide of a seventh-grader at a Montgomery County middle school has put the focus on how schools and communities deal with the issue of youth suicides.
Karen Kanefield, director of training and accreditation at the American Association of Suicidology, says the fear that getting kids to talk about suicide could cause a child or teen to take their own life is — in her words — misguided. “Talking about suicide simply isn’t going to change what was going on in the at-risk student’s life. And it’s not going to change someone who’s not at-risk and suddenly put them at risk.”
The fact that someone so young could be moved to take their own life — and on a school campus — has shocked the community, but Kanefield says there are cases of even younger children ending their own lives, though it’s rare. According to AAS, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 24.
Kanefield says the American Association of Suicidology created The National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide, which features direct outreach to young people. Kanefield says it’s important to engage kids in the effort: “A lot of times as adults, we think we have these great ideas” for prevention programs, “and when we bounce them off a teenager, they kind of roll their eyes.”
So instead, Kanefield says, her organization has developed a program that allows young people to reach out to each other. “You can talk until you’re blue in the face about going to see your guidance counselor or talking to your parent, but that really won’t make a difference if they simply won’t go talk to those people.”
The “U OK?” program asks students to help in shaping prevention programs in their school communities. At the same time, Kanefield says, it’s important for schools to have plans in place to assist kids. Kanefield says, “It’s one thing to ask a student ‘Are you OK?’, and then if the child responds ‘No, I’m not OK,’ you need to know what to do. And it’s really the responsibility of the school to have a plan in place.”
You can find help here about talking to your kids about suicide, or helping someone you care about.
Find crisis centers here. Click on your state/jurisdiction to see centers in your area.
Additional resources:
- The National Alliance on Mental Illness/Montgomery County
- The Mental Health Association of Montgomery County
- Fairfax County Suicide Prevention (you can also call 703-573-5679 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
- The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- The National Council for Suicide Prevention
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
