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My name is Katie Waszkiewicz. I am in my last semester of my master’s degree, earning a degree in professional school counseling. Upon graduation, my goal is to become a school counselor in a secondary setting.

Topic: Working with Suicidal Students

Audience: High School Staff

I choose this topic because more students have opened up to me and have implied suicide thoughts this school year compared to the past. I have helped a few students in guiding them towards the support they need. I want to make sure I am appropriately helping these students both legally and ethically.

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Between 2011 and 2021, 30% of high school girls have seriously considered suicide and 13% of high school girls attempted suicide. In those same years, 45% of LGBTQ+ teens seriously considered suicide and 20% attempted suicide (Pappas, 2023). Overall, there is an increase in high school students feeling distressed with consistent feelings of hopelessness or sadness. In 2021, 29% of boys, 57% of girls, and 69% of LGBTQ+ students reported feeling hopelessness or sadness. Consequently, there is an increase in suicide rates among teens, especially students in the LGBTQ+ community (Pappas, 2023).

According to Chistine Moutier, MS, a psychiatrist and the chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, one of the most essential environments for interventions are schools (Pappas, 2023).  A program called Signs of Suicide (SOS) has been shown to reduce suicide attempts by 40% in high schoolers. Comparing students who have taken the SOS training to those that did not, the ninth graders that took the training are 64% more likely to report a suicide attempt (Pappas, 2023). There are only positive trends of suicide prevention programs being implemented in school and decreasing suicide rates.

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Padlet Slide #3 Professional Association

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Padlet Slide #3 Professional Association

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ASCA offers a webinar that discusses how school counselors can help their school with suicide prevention. Resources are from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), The Trevor Project, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the American School Counselor Association. There are resources available about prevention, intervention, re-entry procedures, in-school suicide attempts, out-of-school suicide attempts, and more.

Citation: Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention. (2019, October 9). American School Counselor Association. https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/model-school-district-policy-on-suicide-prevention/

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Roscoe High School Freshman in Critical Condition After Attempting Suicide by ‘Handgun’ at School

Summary: On Monday, April 24, 2023, at Roscoe Collegiate High School’s secondary campus, a freshman student shot himself with a handgun. He was sent to a nearby hospital but later airlifted to a more substantial hospital, Cooks Medical Center, in DFW. It was reported that the violent act was intended for the student to hurt himself and only himself. School was canceled for the rest of the day and next. School resumed two days later, and counselors were brought in to support students going through grief and trauma.

Citation: Cross, K. (2023, April 24). Roscoe High School Freshman in Critical Condition After Attempting Suicide by ‘Handgun’ at School. Big Country. https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/update-roscoe-high-school-freshman-attempts-suicide-by-handgun-at-school-transported-to-dfw-hospital-for-injuries/

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Liberty Hill Family Spreads Mental Health Awareness After Teen Son’s Suicide

Summary: Will and Amanda Crossland lost their teen son, Jaycee, due to suicide in fall of 2022. Jaycee had strong support systems and was able to confide in his parents about his struggles and being bullied. His parents found him counseling sessions and started to see positive growth. His suicide was a shock to his parents. They now use their experience to spread suicide prevention awareness using social media - #bekindforjaycee. They posted the video of Amanda finding Jaycee after his suicide to help bring awareness to suicide and suicide prevention.

Citation: Hernandez, M. (2023, January 26). Liberty Hill Family Spreads Mental Health Awareness After Teen Son’s Suicide. KXAN. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/liberty-hill-family-spreads-mental-health-awareness-after-teen-sons-suicide/

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Padlet Slide #6: Original Sources of Law at Federal Level

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Padlet Slide #6: Original Sources of Law at Federal Level

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Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997

Assisting suicide, mercy killing or euthanasia are criminal offenses throughout the United States. Additionally, the Secretary can give grants to public and private entities for research programs that are intended to reduce suicide (and assisted suicide) rates. The Secretary can also give grants to public and private entities, schools, health science centers, or hospitals in helping with costs for trainings related to reducing suicide rates.

Citation: Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 105-12, 111 Stat. 23 (1997).

Link: https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ12/PLAW-105publ12.pdf

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Padlet Slide #7: Original Sources of Law at State Level

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Padlet Slide #7: Original Sources of Law at State Level

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Texas Education Code § 33.006

School counselor's role is to participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a guidance program to support all students and their individual needs. School counselors are to advocate and serve students “who are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide.”

Citation: Tex. Educ. Code §33.006.

Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.33.htm

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Padlet Slide #8: Original Sources of Law at State Level

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Padlet Slide #8: Original Sources of Law at State Level

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Texas Education Code § 11.252

School districts are required to have an improvement plan that is evaluated and revised yearly. The district improvement plan is to guide district and campus staff to improve student performance for all students. Plans should include strategies based on best practices for suicide prevention including conflict resolution, violence prevention, and dyslexia treatment programs.

Citation: Tex. Educ. Code §11.252.

Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.11.htm

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Padlet Slide #9: Original Sources of Law at Federal Level

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Padlet Slide #9: Original Sources of Law at Federal Level

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Washington v. Glucksberg

This court case gave rights to the states to permit or prohibit physician-assisted suicide. Harold Glucksberg, four other physicians, and a group of terminally ill patients challenged the states law that prohibited assisted suicide. They believed that the right to die was constitutional under the Fourteenth amendment.

Citation: Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997)

Link: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/521/702/

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Padlet Slide #10 Policy or Rule from a School 

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Padlet Slide #10 Policy or Rule from a School 

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Midlothian Student Handbook

If a staff member is aware of a student exhibiting potential suicidal behavior, they are to escort the student to a counselor (or principal’s office if the counselor is off campus). The student shall not be left alone or leave school.

The counselor will conduct a suicide-risk assessment to evaluate the level of risk and determine the appropriate actions to ensure student safety and well-being. The child’s caregiver will be notified - no matter the level of risk. If the student is in immediate danger, the caregiver is required to pick up their student as they are not allowed to leave the building alone or take the school bus.

Citation: Midlothian Independent School District. (2023). Student Handbook.

Link: https://www.midlothianisd.org/student-life/student-handbook

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

A.9 - Serious and Foreseeable Harm to Self and Others

School counselors are to recognize the level of suicide risk as low, medium, or high. If school counselors have to use a risk assessment, they must communicate clearly to parents the student’s potential harm to self. Even if the risk is low, school counselors must not negate the risk of self-harm. School counselors are to simply report the results of a risk-assessment to parent(s)/guardians(s) with the intention that parents start to get involved and support their child.

Citation:  American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

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American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Summary: American Foundation for Suicide is a health organization that is dedicated to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Their strategies include funding scientific research, educating and advocating the public about mental health and suicide prevention, and supporting survivors and those affected by suicide. They offer resources and programs for educators in a K-12 setting.

Citation: Bring suicide prevention to your school. (2023, June 14). American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. https://afsp.org/bring-suicide-prevention-to-your-school/

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Padlet Slide #13 Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance 

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Padlet Slide #13 Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance 

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Someone at the district should be appointed as a suicide prevention coordinator (Moutier et al., 2018). This person will be responsible for coordination of planning and implementing a suicide prevention policy for a school district. Staff members should report any student they believe to be at-risk for suicide to the suicide prevention coordinator.

There needs to be a re-entry procedure in place for students coming back from mental-health crisis, such as, suicide attempt or psychiatric hospitalization (Moutier et al., 2018). School counselors should meet with the student on the first day they arrive back at school. School counselors should ask questions about who the student feels comfortable with on and off campus, what signs to look for, and how to help them when they feel anxious. This should be documented by the school counselor and communicated to the student’s teacher.

School counselors should have a risk-assessment form created by the district or campus ready to be used when a student is suspected of suicide or self-harm. The assessment should be completed with a counselor and the student, then communicated to the parent/guardian clearly. The parent should be notified of the level of risk and outside resources available to help the student.

School counselors should develop a comprehensive school counseling program that will advocate and serve at-risk students of committing suicide. There should be plans for prevention, remediation, and crisis response to suicide (Texas Education Agency, 2018). At the prevention level, students should be educated on suicide awareness. There are programs and resources available to help support school counselors create a small group or club relating to suicide prevention. The goal of the prevention services is to help reduce or eliminate the likelihood of the unfortunate citations occurring (Texas Education Agency, 2018).  School counselors must have an action plan for remediation and crisis response once suicide or self-harm takes place. Remediation is when the student needs help in resolving a problem and the school counselor comes in to assist them. A crisis is when the school counselor intervenes immediately when a student is at high-risk (Texas Education Agency, 2018).

School districts should partner up with a non-profit organization (i.e. The Trevor Project) that promotes suicide prevention awareness. The Trevor Project focuses on suicide prevention amongst LGBTQ+ teens. The Trevor Project offers online trainings and workshops that are geared to public educators on how to support teens in the LGBTQ+ community (The Trevor Project, 2023).

All staff on campus (teachers, aids, paraprofessionals, clerks, assistant principals, principals, etc.), should be trained annually on signs of suicide or self-harm, how to approach a student you suspect is suicidal, plans and procedures in place when a student is suicidal. Since teachers are with the same students every day, they are in the position to identify suicide warning signs, provide support, and refer students to mental health services (Stickl Haugen et al., 2023). Before each school year, school counselors or the district appointed suicide prevention coordinator should provide a detailed and insightful training to all staff members.

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American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 105-12, 111 Stat. 23 (1997).

Bring suicide prevention to your school. (2023, June 14). American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. https://afsp.org/bring-suicide-prevention-to-your-school/

Cross, K. (2023, April 24). Roscoe High School Freshman in Critical Condition After Attempting Suicide by ‘Handgun’ at School. Big Country. https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/update-roscoe-high-school-freshman-attempts-suicide-by-handgun-at-school-transported-to-dfw-hospital-for-injuries/

Hernandez, M. (2023, January 26). Liberty Hill Family Spreads Mental Health Awareness After Teen Son’s Suicide. KXAN. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/liberty-hill-family-spreads-mental-health-awareness-after-teen-sons-suicide/

Midlothian Independent School District. (2023). Student Handbook.

Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention. (2019, October 9). American School Counselor Association. https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/model-school-district-policy-on-suicide-prevention/

Moutier, C., Marshall, D. S., & Gibson, N. (2018). Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention:  Model Language, Commentary, and Resources. American School Counselor Association. https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AFSP_Model_School_Policy_Booklet.pdf

Pappas, S. (2023, July 1). More than 20% of teens have seriously considered suicide.  Psychologists and communities can help tackle the problem. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/07/psychologists-preventing-teen-suicide

Stickl Haugen, J., Sutter, C.C., Tinstman Jones, J.L. et al. Teachers as Youth Suicide Prevention Gatekeepers: An Examination of Suicide Prevention Training and Exposure to Students at Risk of Suicide. Child Youth Care Forum 52, 583–601 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09699-5

Texas Education Agency. (2018). The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (5th ed.). Texas Counseling Association.

Tex. Educ. Code §11.252.

Tex. Educ. Code §33.006.

The Trevor Project. (2023, July 12). Public Education Opportunities & Programs - The Trevor Project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/public-education/

Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997)