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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
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…
Read more
Read more
Aug 31, 2015
September Social Media Challenge
Take Our Social Media Challenge! Want to help raise suicide prevention awareness? SPTS challenges YOU to post this photo as your profile pic on your social media page (think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the ENTIRE month of September. Think you can do it? Head on over to our Facebook page (Facebook.com/SPTSUSA) and check out the challenge. Be sure to tag your friends and get them to help spread the message that September is Suicide Prevention Awareness month!
Read more
Read more
Aug 26, 2015
SPTS Youth Council Kicks Off First Year
SPTS Youth Council Executive Committee Meets Discusses plans and goals for helping to #saveteens! On August 6, 2015, the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide held its first meeting of the Youth Council Executive Committee at Neptune High School. Student leaders from over 20 Monmouth and Ocean County High Schools came together and developed ideas for projects they are interested in, while grouping together to help lead their fellow Youth Council members. Beyond…
Read more
Read more