developing a suicide intervention program in your school
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/29/2019 Developing a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
1/5
http://bul.sagepub.com/NASSP Bulletin
http://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51
The online version of this article can be foundat:
DOI: 10.1177/0192636586070487121986 70: 51NASSP Bulletin
Richard J. KonetDeveloping a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com
On behalf of:
National Association of Secondary School Principals
can be found at:NASSP BulletinAdditional services and information for
http://bul.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts:
http://bul.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions:
http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:
http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:
What is This?
- Feb 1, 1986Version of Record>>
by RAVI BABU BUNGA on October 28, 2011bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51http://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51http://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51http://www.sagepublications.com/http://www.principals.org/http://bul.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://bul.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://bul.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://bul.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51.full.pdfhttp://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51.full.pdfhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51.full.pdfhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://bul.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://bul.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://www.principals.org/http://www.sagepublications.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/content/70/487/51http://bul.sagepub.com/ -
7/29/2019 Developing a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
2/5
51
Developing a SuicideIntervention Program in
Your School
BY RICHARD J. KONET
RICHARD J. KONET is assistant principal,Westfield (N.J.) Senior High School.
Teenage depression and suicide are a growing problem acrossthis nation. Heres how one school developed a program to assisttroubled youngsters.
1HEALARMING INCREASE in
the national teenage suicide rate
prompted faculty members at West-field (N.J.) Senior High School to in-
vestigate the possibility of developing asuicide prevention team at the school.Agood deal of time and energy wentinto this investigation. We identified 12
steps in developing what was later to becalled our Crisis Management Team.1. Consider your personal com-
mitment. Each potential volunteershould look at his or her time in-
volvement not only during theschool day but also during time out-side of the school.
2. Analyze your daily schedule. If the
assignments for the year seemoverwhelming to begin with, it
would not be a
goodidea to volun-
teer for service on a suicide pre-
vention team.
3. Reflect on your personality andcharacter. Individuals should ask
themselves if they have the proper
physical and emotional make-up tobecome part of a team which will
deal with teenage depression and
suicide.
4. Review pertinent literature on ado-lescent depression and suicide.
5. Take a careful look at your student
body. It is important to conduct aneeds assessment as well as an
evaluation as to how many of your
students might be at risk.
6. Develop dialog with your peers.One of the primary goals of school-based suicide prevention programsis to develop a network so help is
always available throughout the
building.
by RAVI BABU BUNGA on October 28, 2011bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/ -
7/29/2019 Developing a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
3/5
52
7. Look for model programs. We at
Westfield were fortunate in that we
could draw from a Northern New
Jersey school that already had expe-rience in this field and had a similar
student body. It is imperative thateach program be modeled on one
with some similar experiences.8. Plan and design your training pro-
gram. Check with local universities
and community mental health ser-
vices to ascertain who runs pro-
grams in suicide diagnosis and pre-
vention and which programs wouldbe applicable to your purposes.Many counties will have a guide tomental health services that can be
of further benefit to you.
9. Consider local and county re-
sources. Here, too, you will find a
great many resources. There are
those whowill come to
speakto
you and your staff, and there are
those with whom you will want to
visit for a few hours to make sure
that you can make referrals to them
and they will follow through appro-priately.
10. Be prepared to develop extensivecontacts with parents and com-
munity members. This is vital,since you need the support of par-ents and you will need the backingof your community.
11. Develop an organizational flowchart with proper administrative
support.12. Plan information programs for your
staff and students. Your main ob-
jective with the staff will be to edu-cate them to the symptoms of ado-
lescent depression and suicide.Your main objective with the stu-dents is to encourage them to come
to you and seek help when theyneed it.
All members of our Crisis Manage-ment Team participate in workshopsconducted by a local mental health
agency.
Ayear or so ago we developed a bro-chure designed to familiarize studentsand parents with our programs. The
brochure was given to all students and,much to our satisfaction, we discovered
that a great many of the students took it
home to share with their parents.
How ReferralsAre Made
Alist of the members of the Crisis
Management Team and the times oftheir availability is posted in various
places in the building. All of theseteachers and staff members work on a
voluntary basis, and often give up their
preparation timeto
deal with students incrisis. It is important that each memberknow where other members are duringany period of the day so that networkingcan take place.Areferral can be initiated at anylevel. We have had parents call a mem-
ber of our Crisis Management Team, a
pupil come to us directly, a pupil cometo us telling us about another pupil, aCrisis Management Team member iden-
tifying a possible need with an indi-vidual student, a teacher who is not on
the Crisis Management Team notingsigns of depression and alerting one ofthe Crisis Management Team members,and even an anonymous telephone call
from a community member.At this point the process is set in mo-
tion. Normally, we try to contact theindividual youngster directly as soon as
possible after we have determined the
extact nature of the referral.
by RAVI BABU BUNGA on October 28, 2011bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/ -
7/29/2019 Developing a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
4/5
53
The case is then assigned to one of theCrisis Management Team members whowill talk with the student as soon as
possible. Whatever information the in-dividual gains from the student is al-
ways shared immediately with anotherteam member. If the opinions are con-
flicting or if problems remain unre-solved, the school psychologist is no-tified to act as a further resource person.
All of these teachers and staff
members work on a voluntarybasis, and often give up theirpreparation time to deal withstudents in crisis.
Problems are often solved at the team
level, but sometimes referrals outside of
the
buildingare
necessary.These refer-
rals are only conducted by the child
study team or the school psychologist.The team member has at his or her dis-
posal the other members of the team, the
guidance counselor, the child studyteam, and names of outside agencies tocall on a relatively anonymous basis.
Referrals made outside the building are
always followed up and monitored care-
fully.Cases are recorded on index cards
kept in a box in the nurses office. This
way any member of the team can thumb
through the box and see any of the cur-rent and past cases. This could be quiteimportant when a student is involved
who might have been referred previ-ously. The team member can look at the
disposition from the previous episodeand have a clearer idea of how to pro-ceed on the current problem.After an assessment has been made of
the individual, the case is normally con-
cluded at the next debriefing session, at
which time questions may be posed as tohow the case was handled, who did
what, how the pupil reacted, and what
might be looked for in the future.The parents of any youngster who
mentions suicide are contacted. This is
necessary to protect the student as well
as the school. We have had to do this a
number of times, and each instance has
been met with gratitude by the parents.Recruitment of new team members is
a continuous process. At present, wehave staff representation from every de-
partment in the school and literally from
every area of the school building. Sothat students may readily identify these
people, we have developed a bulletinboard that contains recent pictures of theCrisis Management Team members as
well as the time
periodsin which
theyare available.
Student Representation
It quickly became apparent to us thatwe needed further input, preferablyfrom the students themselves. Conse-
quently, we ran an advertisement in theschool newspaper, asking for student
volunteers for the Crisis ManagementTeam. We have been fortunate to have a
good number of students interested in
serving on our committee, and we se-
lected the seven most qualified young-sters to come to our monthly meetings.The students are publicizing the team
among the student body and are giving
us insight into how the student body ingeneral is behaving from week to week
throughout the school year. It is impor-tant to note the impact of mid-term
examinations, testing periods, up-coming vacations, and the like.
by RAVI BABU BUNGA on October 28, 2011bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/ -
7/29/2019 Developing a Suicide Intervention Program in Your School
5/5
54
It would appear that student represen-
tation is an important part of any suicide
prevention program. Our program doesnot at this time have any form of student
counseling, but this may develop as ourteam continues to evolve.
Suicide prevention programs inthe school are not a fad;rather they are an instrumentalpart of the total education of
each youngster.
Final Concerns
We must emphasize that the most im-
portant factors in beginning a suicide
prevention program include:0 Be patient. Conduct a needs assess-.
ment, know your student body, and en-
courage your most able staff members to
be a part of the team.
0 Plan and organize carefully, with
your goals being to educate the staff andto gain credibility among the students.. Develop parental and communitysupport so that the network you developis not only viable in the school buildingbut throughout the community at large.Remember, if you only save one young-ster in an entire school year, your pro-
gram has been a success.
Suicide prevention programs in theschool are not a fad; rather they are an
instrumental part of the total education
of each youngster. The Crisis Manage-ment Team at Westfield High School
can be proud of the fact that it has as-sisted a number of depressed or poten-tially suicidal youngsters.
Attention: State Boards of Education
State boards of education can make the greatest impact on alleviating the
problems of dropouts, unemployment, and illiteracy through the education policiesthey establish, according to Owen B. Butler, chairman of the board of Proctor andGamble Company and chairman of the board of trustees of the Committee forEconomic Development.
Butler says that the place to fix the school is in the school, not in Washington orin the state capital. State boards should &dquo;go as far as you can&dquo; in setting standards forwhat students are required to achieve by a certain level but should not prescribe howthis is to be achieved.
&dquo;Dont prescribe methods,&dquo; he urges, &dquo;but instead prescribe results.&dquo;
by RAVI BABU BUNGA on October 28, 2011bul.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/http://bul.sagepub.com/