The Importance of Suicide Prevention Education
Although one might believe that teaching kids how to help prevent their classmates from attempting suicide might be a top priority, legislators have balked at the opportunity to mandate suicide prevention education in schools—even in some states where suicide is relatively rampant.
In July, the Wyoming Legislature declined to pass a proposed bill that would have made suicide prevention education a requirement for all students in public schools. The legislature made this decision even though Wyoming currently has the highest suicide rate in the nation at 29 suicides each year per 100,000 residents.
“We’ve run into challenges where legislators are reluctant to pass an unfunded mandate,” said Nicole Gibson, the senior director for state policy and grassroots advocacy at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
For some perspective, Wyoming’s suicide rate is more than double the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s legislature does not deny that suicide is a problem for the state, but they believe that local control of educational content is more important. As such, legislators refused to pass the mandate, and instead, they left the decision to individual school boards.
Whose responsibility is it?
Some indicated that suicide prevention should be the responsibility of churches and families, others feel it’s a concern for the state department of health and still, others think school is a fine place to teach these skills but were reluctant to increase the workload of teachers. Some critics have pointed out that Wyoming has a history of passing unfunded mandates in schools, pointing out a law passed in 2018 that required schools to teach computer science.
The purpose of suicide prevention education is to help students notice when signs of suicidal ideation are present in their classmates and help them understand how to talk and listen to them in an empathetic matter and to show them resources that suicidal people can turn to for help, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). The goal is to give the person feeling suicidal thoughts hope that better days are coming and life is worth living. CDC Research has shown that intervention can make a difference and lower suicide rates.
“Young people really go to their peers for so much and really trust their peers, maybe more so than adults, depending on their age,” said Gibson. “So making sure that [young people] are empowered to reach out for help when they notice those warning signs is so important. It’s a sign of strength to seek help, it’s a sign of strength to reach out.”
It doesn’t always work in every case, as suicide is quite complicated. It can occur for a vast number of reasons and no singular strategy of suicide prevention can guarantee success. However, it is clear that something needs to be done to bring the rate of suicide down in a state like Wyoming.
Currently, 12 states, including Texas and Vermont, require that education on suicide awareness and prevention be included in the curriculum, the foundation has been working to increase this number as part of its work.
See how an attorney can help you
The Law Offices of Skip Simpson has the experience and knowledge to investigate the circumstances of suicide and advise families on how to proceed during an extraordinarily difficult time. Although the law firm is based in Texas, it serves clients nationwide, so if you have suffered the loss of a loved one who was attending a school without any suicide prevention education, contact attorney Skip Simpson today.