Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — Teachers and parents play an important role in suicide prevention, but students themselves can play an invaluable role in stopping suicides and getting kids help.
Members of the Hope Squad from the Provo and Nebo school districts gave KSL an idea of what they are seeing and hearing that might surprise parents.
Two Utah school districts have found an approach that seems to work. For eight years, no teen in those areas have committed suicide. Students at Springville and Provo High Schools nominate their peers to a group called the "Hope Squad." The squad is trained and given recognizable shirts so that students in crisis know where to turn for a friend.
- 89% of the suicide decedents were male.
- Referral to Juvenile Court was a risk factor for completed suicide, with 63% of suicide decedents having had contact with the juvenile courts.
- 54% of the decedents who had contact with juvenile court had a referral(s) for substance possession, use, or abuse and 32% had one felony referral.
- 23% had a special education evaluation, primarily for behavioral disorders.
- 35% had either a suspension or expulsion from school.
"We're almost like the gate men,"said 18-year-old Abby Harper. "We open the gate to get them to a better place, to get them to counselors and people who know how to address the problem, because these are bigger than we know how to handle."
The students said their biggest role is being there for students who may not want to go straight to a counselor, and watching out for some students even before they interact with them.
"What I try to do every day is look for people who might look a little sad," said 14-year-old Jacqueline Bradford. "I try to smile at people and make it seem like they can come to me anytime."
Some students said what they thought would surprise parents was the amount of stress students face from school and social groups.
"My parents are surprised by the things that happen, things on Facebook that are exciting, and those are the good things I haven't told them," Harper said. "The bad things seem too big to tell your parents."
