May 17, 2016
SPTS Youth Council Concludes Stellar Year
On Friday, May 13th, the SPTS Youth Council met for the final time to conclude it's year long initiative of promoting suicide prevention awareness. With a goal to help #saveteens, more than 60 students from Monmouth and Ocean County High Schools participated in the inaugural year of the council. Students from varying high schools, both public and private, came together to work on projects such as social media campaigns, fundraising, and the 2016 Youth Wellness…
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May 02, 2016
From A Student: The 2016 Youth Wellness Summit Experience
Months of work from the Youth Council and SPTS certainly paid off at the Monmouth County Youth Wellness Summit on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Neptune High School. There were free t-shirts, tons of good food and an amazing keynote speaker. For a high school student, these three things always mean a great day. I was lucky to be one of the more than 140 students to attend the summit. Upon entrance, all student attendees were…
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Apr 26, 2016
Suicide Prevention in the Classroom: A Student Reflection
By Stacy Brief, High School Student On April 7, 2016, Maureen Underwood attended my high school in Bellmore, NY to present to the peer leader classes on suicide prevention. On Thursday morning, Maureen arrived at Mepham High School equipped with many "tools" to pass on to the juniors and seniors attending the training sessions in how to safely and accurately handle a situation in which a peer is struggling with the idea of suicide. The…
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Apr 21, 2016
Speaking With Students About Suicide
At the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, one of our core values is the belief in the effectiveness of evidence -based suicide prevention strategies. Yet, one of the questions we are most often confronted with is the request for assembly presentations. What we know about suicide prevention and keeping students safe is that assembly style presentations fail to take into consideration what we know about suicide risk. Instead, what should happen, is the inclusion of students in…
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Mar 16, 2016
An Open Letter to the Stressed-Out Teenagers of the World
Dear high schoolers, These four years of your life are not quite like the movies. There isn’t that clique that wears pink every Wednesday. Most basketball teams don’t sing at practice. And I doubt that Saturday detention students form clubs in their spare time. High school is a totally different species now. Although there aren’t any Plastics or a Sharpay Evans roaming the halls, there’s something way worse controlling our high school lives: stress. There’s…
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Dec 16, 2015
Youth Council 2015 Year End Celebration
Youth Council Celebrates Kick-Off Year Last night, SPTS closed out 2015 a little early with a celebration for its Youth Council. With over 60 students from Monmouth and Ocean Counties, the council has set some pretty awesome goals for ways in which they want to help spread awareness of youth suicide prevention. We couldn't be more proud to know such a motivated and caring group of young people! Hot coco and pizza was had…
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Dec 14, 2015
Teens Support ‘You Are Not Alone’ Social Media Campaign
SPTS Community lets teens know, You Are Not Alone Suicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death for youth, age 15 to 24. Yet, we know that suicide is preventable. On December 2, 2015, students throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties joined together to help SPTS in an awareness spreading campaign to help let teens know that they are never alone. The holidays can be a stressful time, and being a teen doesn't make it any…
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Sep 21, 2015
Maureen Underwood, LCSW Nominated As New Jersey Hero
LOCAL NON-PROFIT DIRECTOR NOMINATED AS A NEW JERSEY HERO Maureen Underwood, LCSW Leads the Charge in Suicide Prevention Maureen Underwood, a licensed clinical social worker, has dedicated her life to dealing with the tough stuff – issues such as youth suicide – that no one really likes to talk about. And, because of that work, Maureen has just recently been selected by Mary Pat Christie as a nominee for September's New Jersey Hero. With…
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Sep 10, 2015
Suicide Prevention Awareness Day
September 10th is Suicide Prevention Awareness Day Help us spread awareness to #saveteens! A little more than twelve years ago, Don Quigley and Scott Fritz, two New Jersey fathers, both lost teenage children to suicide. They were surprised and alarmed to learn that suicide was the third leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Armed with this news, they began a campaign for public awareness and education that became the Society for…
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