SUICIDE PREVENTION
If you or someone you know are suicidal,
call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
(800) 273-8255 or text START to 741741
**** If you or someone you know is in a life threatening situation,
please call 911 immediately****
Whittier Union High School District has made it a goal to share information with regards to suicide prevention, awareness of warning signs, increasing resiliency, and training key people in the process. Most importantly, training you, the parents, guardians, or caregivers. You are a crucial part of this project and process.
When schools closed to students and staff due to COVID-19, many parts of our school community were affected, such as our planned training events. However, the Center for Distance and Online Learning (CDOL) division of the LA County Office of Education (LACOE) recently developed and released a set of screencasts for online parent training. This training is focused on suicide prevention, awareness of warning signs, and increasing resiliency.
It is important to note; each segment is not meant to be a stand-alone segment, which means that we ask you ultimately to watch each of them in order and its entirety. By design, each segment is no longer than 15 minutes because you may not have an opportunity to view content like this for an extended period of time.
As you watch these, if you become concerned about your child, please contact your child's guidance counselor or school psychologist (for students with an IEP). Please also be aware that additional resources are provided at the end of each segment. Feel free to share the episode links with others, because the more people who have this important knowledge, the better! Please remember that you can help prevent suicide.
- For more crisis/emergency information, please click here
- Access Episodes Here
Episode 1
In this first segment of the series, the screencast highlights how parents are very important in the prevention of suicide, some of the myths surrounding suicide and prevention, and the importance of talking to their children. In this segment, as with each of the segments, resources for support are provided at the end of the segment.
Episode 2
In this segment, the video focuses on the importance of safe messaging, using terminology when talking about suicide that will not have a negative impact. Also, taking a closer look at examining some of the trends and statistics with regards to youth suicide in Los Angeles County, as well as across the nation. Moreover, examining some of the risk factors which may lead to an increased risk of suicide, as well as protective factors, which are those aspects of a person’s life that helps protect them from going down the road towards suicidal behaviors.
Episode 3
In this segment of the series, this screencast examines other risk factors which may lead to a higher risk of suicide, as well as more protective factors that students cope with emotional distress thus helping protect them from going down the path towards suicide.
Episode 4
In this final segment of the series, the video examines some of the precipitating events which may be seen as a spark that, when the underlying risk factors are present, may lead to a student going down the path towards a suicidal action. This segment also features warning signs (which are red flags that a child may be heading down that path), and what parents should do immediately if they become aware of those red flags.
One of the more difficult challenges of parenting is realizing that you don’t always know what your children are thinking and feeling. You may be aware that suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescence, but you can’t imagine your child might become one of those statistics. When do the normal ups and downs of adolescence become something to worry about? How can you know if suicide is a risk for your family? And if you are worried about it, what can you do?
The first step is to learn about the factors that can put a teen at risk for suicide. There are lots of sites that list risk factors; spend some time reading them—the more you know, the better you’ll be prepared for understanding what can put your child at risk. The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide is a wonderful website with guidance for parents on numerous aspects related to suicide.
