May 19, 2020
Suicide: A Topic Worth Talking About
The following essay was written by SPTS Youth Council Member and high school student, Fatima, who wishes teenagers would feel more comfortable talking about suicide to help spread awareness and identifies the stigma surrounding mental health as a barrier to getting people help. We want to thank Fatima for using her voice and speaking up about suicide prevention through this essay. As a member of the SPTS Youth Council, Fatima meets monthly with other high…
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Oct 31, 2018
Coach Awareness Series: Suicide Prevention is a Team Sport
When you’re a coach, you’re not just someone who provides your athletes with help and direction about their play. You often become a surrogate parent, a big brother or sister, a confidant- an important person in your players’ lives. The one thing all these roles have in common is that they demonstrate that the kids you coach trust you. So, whether or not you know it, your influence in their lives goes way beyond the…
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Sep 10, 2018
Why School Assemblies Surrounding Suicide and Other Traumatic Loss are Not Recommended
In the aftermath of the traumatic death of a young person, the question of assemblies and large scale presentations is posed frequently as loved ones and community members want to provide youth suicide prevention education to adolescents. It is important for us to remember the essence of prevention is keeping youth safe. According to the Lifelines Postvention curriculum, second edition, published in 2018 by Hazelden Publishing and written by Maureen Underwood, LCSW, large gatherings and/or…
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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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