Middletown Hill High School is located in Delaware. The demographics of the school in the just concluded academic years are provided in the following section.
Grade levels: 9th to 12th grade
Number of students: 2000
Ethnicity: 65% non-Hispanic white
3% Hispanic whites
22% African Americans
Gender composition: 44% male
43% female
13% LGBTA
Suicide Prevention Policy
National statistics in 2014 revealed that there were 13 suicides in every 100, 000 people. The figure is not only high among adults but also among the youth, especially those in high school. Middletown Hill High School has had several victims; hence, the desire to implement a policy that will offer intervention in future. Moreover, the school management realizes that it has an ethical responsibility to offer proactive approaches that will prevent all students’deaths by suicide. Besides that, the management realizes that it has an active role in providing a sensitive environment toindividual and social factors that place youth at a great risk for suicide(Goldblum,2015).
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The policy will protect the student body, faculty, as well as families. The mainprinciples of the school policy are:
Maintain a safe school environmentthat is conducive to the peace and tranquility of the students
Promote the mental and behavioral health among all the students, as this will raise their self-esteem, self-identity, and overall academic performance.
Avoid liability in case of suicide attempts or suicideideation among students
At the Middletown Hill High School, the management and administrators have come up with a protocol that will help students how to face the threat of suicide. This is enlisted in the following sector:
The school management will convene a team that will deal with the at-risk students. These will include social workers, counselors, teachers, and resource officers.
The above-mentioned team will also come up with a protocol that should be followed in case of a suicidethreator attempt identification among students
There will also be an identification of suicide risk coordinators including school therapists, behavioral health practitioners, as well as school administrators.
Assessment and Referral of Suicidal Students
The school staff will be taught how to identify a person who is potentially suicidal. Some of the characteristics of suicidal people are that they present overt risk factors such as intoxication and agitation. In some other instances, they commit the act of self-harm. Such students will be referred to the employed school staff mental healthprofessionals within the same day; this will not only facilitate referralbut also help in risk assessment. In case, a mental health professional misses in the school,the school administrator or nurse will fill the role until a health professional is brought in(Waller, 2006).
For the youth who are at risk, several steps will be followed
School staff will continually supervise students to ensure that they are safe
The school principal and suicide prevention unit coordinator will be alert so that they learn about the situation of suicide, suicidal thoughts, and patterns as soon as isreasonablypossible(Juhnke, Granello, & Granello, 2011).
The mental health professional in the school will contact the student’s guardian and will offer an urgent referral to the family. If appropriate,the action may involve calling the emergency services or bringing the student to the emergency department. However, in most cases, the action will entail setting up an outpatient mental health care appointment.
The staff will ask the guardian or parents to offer a written permission that will allow them to discuss the health of the student with outside care if need be.
At School Suicide Attempts
In case the student attempts to commit suicide in the school, the following procedure will be used
First aid will be rendered until the time professional medical treatment and transportation is received. The policy used during the first aid will follow the District Emergency Medical Procedureswhich are well taught to the relevant team in the school
The school staff will also supervise the student (victim) to ensure that they are safe
All other students will be moved out of the immediate area as soon as possible by the school staff
A staff member who is employed in the school to offer mental health services or the schoolprincipal will contact the student’s guardian or parent as per the Parental Notification Section.
Staff willalsonotify the school suicide prevention coordinator or the school principalregarding the attempt
The necessary crisis team will also be involved to determine if additional steps need to be taken to ensure that the student is safe.
Suicide Attempts Out Of School
If a staff member is aware of a suicide attempt by a student that is located outside the school, the staff member should
Call the police or emergency medical services; 911 and the like
Inform the guardian or parent
Inform the principal and the school suicide prevention official
On the other hand is a student informs a staff member of the suicide ideation, the staff should:
Maintain contact with the person either by phone or online.
They should then enlist the help of another person who should inform the police while the staff member engages the student verbally to keep them occupied.
Re-Entry Procedure
If a student returns to school after a mental health crisis such as a suicide attempt or psychiatric hospitalization, a mental health professional who is employed by the school or the principal will meet the student to discuss the school reentry procedure. The move is appropriate to ensure that they are ready to return to school. The following procedure will be employed
1. A mental health professional who is employed by the school will be identified to coordinate with the student, guardian, or parents and other mental health providers.
2. The students’ parent or guardian will provide the necessary documents from a mental care provider that offer evidence that the students had undergone the necessary examination. The documents should alsoshow thatthey are no longer a danger to themselves and other entities.
3. The designated official will continually check with the student to help them readjust to the school community as well
Parental Involvement
When a student makes a suicideattempt or is considered at risk of committingsuicide, the samewill be communicated to the parent or guardian with immediate effect. The mandate of making the communication assigned to the principal and mental health professional at the school. The parent must be informed on means of restriction or ways of limiting the parent from carrying out suicidal attempts. The staff is also required to seek parental permission to communicate with outside metal professionals concerning the health of the child(Miller,2011). However, if the discussion with the student reveals that, the risk of harm will increase if the parent of guardian is notified; the mental health professional employed by the school of the principal should withhold the information from the parent. Nevertheless, they must document the reason for the delay to evade further accusations and complications.
Role ofthe School Counselor
The school counselor is the most equipped person to handle the suicidal tendencies that students face. They are entrusted with the role of helping the students cope with the problems that they face healthily instead of resorting to suicide. The counselor’s job includes helping other people in the school to be aware of the risk factors that are associated with teen suicide. For some students, these risk factors are genetic while others are related to mental and physical distress.
The schoolcounselor is also entrusted with the role of maintaining a school environment that meets the needs of the students who may be suffering from mental problems. They must ensure that the school culture is one that does not put the students at the risk of suicide(Waller, 2006).Additionally, the counselors have the unique responsibility of intervening in teen suicide; they accomplish the role by ensuring that the schools have the right procedures and processes that support them at every stage. The processes include prevention, prevention intervention where the at-risk students are concerned and post-intervention.
Whom to Involve
Parents and guardians play a critical role in the mental health of students. Consequently, the Middletown Hill High school mental health providers must include them in the intervention programs and policies. The school will hold several seminars to educate the parents on the warning signs and risk factors, which are involved.
References
Goldblum, P. (2015). Youth suicide and bullying: Challenges and strategies for prevention and intervention .
Juhnke, G. A., Granello, D. H., & Granello, P. F. (2011). Suicide, self-injury, and violence in the schools: Assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies .
Miller, D. N. (2011). Child and adolescent suicidal behavior: School-based prevention, assessment, and intervention . New York: Guilford Press.
Waller, R. J. (2006). Fostering child & adolescent mental health in the classroom . Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
