Crucial, lifesaving steps are being taken by the Vigo County School Corp. and fellow districts across Indiana.
Teachers in grades 5 through 12, administrators and school professionals will receive two hours of training in suicide prevention procedures every three years. Appropriate educational materials will become part of the curriculum in health classes through all grades. The instruction will emphasize the importance of students making safe, healthy choices and learning coping skills, recognizing risk factors in themselves and others and identifying options for help.
A 2017 state law authored by Rep. Julie Olthoff, a Crown Point Republican, requires school districts to implement such policies to protect kids’ well-being through suicide prevention strategies, risk assessments, intervention and properresponses by Sunday. The Vigo County School Board approved the local policy on Monday.
The VCSC has been proactive in suicide prevention, Rick Stevens, assistant director of student services, said at a recent school board meeting. Collaboration with mental health agencies such as Hamilton Center has been strong in recent years, he said. Also, the corporation anticipates training teachers in all grades, beyond the required grades of 5 through 12, Tom Balitewicz, VCSC director of students services, said Monday.
Vigo County has experienced the impact of suicide profoundly in recent years. The county had the state’s fifth-highest rate of deaths by suicide among the overall population from 20112015, according to a report last year by the Indiana Department of Health. Vigo ranked highest among urban counties. Only the rural counties of Fayette, Benton, Gibson and Brown had higher rates. During that five-year span, 121 people died by suicide in Vigo County.
Statewide, suicides have increased every year since 1999, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported. They affect people from all walks of life.
The efforts by schools carries particular importance. Suicide has been the second- leading cause of death for Indiana youths ages 15 to 24 since 2009. One in five Hoosier young people in that age group had seriously considered suicide, according to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey — the fourth-highest ratio in the U.S.
The positive news is that strategic practices throughout communities are effective in preventing these deaths. Ninety percent of people who die by suicide nationally had a treatable mental condition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. Yet, 54 percent of those people were not known to have a mental condition. Clearly, that statistic shows the need for better and more accessible mental health treatment. States, especially those as acutely affected as Indiana, must provide resources to address those needs.
Vigo County schools have hired 16 new school counselors and nearly 20 behavioral specialists in recent years, Stevens said. Those additions bolster the outreach network in the community.
Help from mental health professionals is also available beyond the schools. Those in a crisis situation can get assistance for themselves or others by phone through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Teen Suicide Hotline at 1-800-784-2433, and in the Wabash Valley via the nonprofit Team of Mercy at 1-855-225-5550; or by sending a text (TALK) to 741-741 at the Crisis Text Line.
Suicides can be prevented. Community and individual responses make a difference. Wise practices by the schools, coupled with broader support from the community, can save lives.