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Students, Suicide, and Suicide Prevention


when talking with a troubled student and/or parent.
  • Trust your own judgement.
  • Listen and try to understand the feeling expressed behind the words being said. Take every feeling that the student expresses seriously.
  • Tell others. Immediately refer students that you feel are suicidal to the counselor, crisis team member, and/or principal.
  • Remind the student that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The choice can never be taken back.
  • Ask the student to postpone any decisions for a while. In return, you might offer to accompany them to find support or help with the problems they are expressing frustration with.
  • Accept the fact that in some cases, you may not be able to do anything to prevent a student from committing suicide.

    • DON'Ts:

    • Don't worry about breaking a student confidence if they reveal suicidal plans and/or idealogies to you. You may need to take a chance in order to save a life.
    • Don't try to win an argument about suicide. They might not be able to be won, which can firm convictions.
    • Don't moralize or "preach" to the student.
    • Don't dismiss a suicide threat and never challenge a student to "just do it".
    • Don't leave a suicidal student alone if you think they are an immediate danger to themselves.
    • Don't attempt to rescue a suicidal student by yourself - get professional help.
    • Don't ignore warning signs. Ignoring these signs confirms to the student that s/he is misunderstood or unloved.
    • Don't give false assurances that "everything will be fine" - it might not be.
    • Don't be misled by the student's comments that the emotional crisis has ended. Refer to Do #3 - Trust your own judgement.
    • Don't assume the aggressive child may commit suicide rather than the "good", "quiet", or "obedient" child.

    To Save a Life...

    Goals and Skills: To explore appropriate responses to people who may be suicidal. Students will identify common warning signs of depression which chould lead to suicidal behavior. They will write a skit and produce booklets in which they document appropriate suicide prevention techniques. Adapt the content to suit your particular grade level.

    Vocabulary: Suicide, Prevention, Depression, Perspective, Temporary, Permanent, Psychiatry, Traumatic, Scapegoat, Hindsight, Intervene

    Activity: Prior to class, write a variation of the following question on the blackboard: "How do you

    The copyright of the article Students, Suicide, and Suicide Prevention in Teaching & Technology is owned by Phebe A. Durand. Permission to republish Students, Suicide, and Suicide Prevention in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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