By Elizabeth Echols

By Elizabeth Echols

SAVE

Every neighbor has a story. Every person has a problem. Everyone is unique. No matter how small one’s troubles may be, there is only so much a person can take. It is true; no one person lives a perfect life. Although this statement does not make a struggle any less important, a person should not feel as though their imperfections will be the death of them, nor should they believe they are any less important than someone else. One particular program stands out when reviewing the outreach and prevention efforts for high school students. The foundation SAVE stands for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education and it intends to install suicide prevention courses in various educational environments. Life is a hard battle to fight, and the emotional damage one can incur often becomes a spiraling effect of trying to get by. Suicide is one the leading causes of death among teens and young adults. Judging by this statistic, it is time to take notice and educate society on this issue.

The true cause of a person’s desire to kill one’s self is usually avoided in conversation. Friends are too baffled to fully understand the situation, and parents cannot grasp the concept of their child going through with such an action. Psychologists Fowler and Kolata offer this insight, “Teenage suicides are often linked with drug and alcohol abuse; the final act may follow a traumatic event, such as a romantic breakup or a guilt-provoking antisocial act” (Myers 584). It is not that the friends and family surrounding the teen are neglecting them, but these issues are not garnering the attention they deserve. Suicide is a real and problematic concern. Even if a person seems on top of the world in public, emotional and mental tensions can quickly take over before anything can be noticed.

After looking over multiple teen suicide prevention programs, SAVE fully implemented the concept and devised a series of curricular criteria to school districts and teachers. The particular curriculum for teens ranging from freshman to seniors is called the LEADS for Youth program. Conversation is one the biggest solutions to suicide. For youth to fully devote themselves to feeling accepted, it takes more than simply waiting for time to pass. Letting children talk about their issues and feel recognized is the key to change. The LEADS for Youth criteria provides opportunities for open classroom discussion about suicide. This approach is a novel idea for most schools. Although there may be a yearly session instituted in schools, there should be a more accepted study over what a person feels on the psychological basis of suicide. There are many reasons why a teen may contemplate suicide, but mental-health problems are often the main source behind the committed action. Some of the top three issues teens can struggle with are anxiety disorders, insomnia, and depression (About Teen Suicide).

Depression can come in many different forms and stem from a multitude of problems, but mainly family history. It is a mental game. The words that people say and the actions that take place in someone’s life can create a black hole, with no escape. Many try to self-diagnose themselves by meditating or exercising. These solutions are often encouraged by therapists, but the root of the problem is never addressed. By opening oneself to the truth, and acknowledging the root of the problem, a person can better understand their depression and find a solution. A teen should not feel scared to tell others about their worries. Yet, society has installed a predisposition that since everyone has problems, an individual does not matter. Children are growing up under the impression that other people’s lives are much worse. Even though this may be true in some cases, a teen should feel free to express their emotions without the worry of sounding ungrateful.

The program SAVE has an impressive section over this topic which include insight over mental –health problems such as depression.. Their goal is to support other organizations and provide schools with the appropriate approach in helping teens understand their own mind and emotions. On average, “One person commits suicide every 16.2 minutes” (11 Facts About Suicide). This single statistic should concern people. When a half-hour television show is completed, two people have taken their lives due to an overwhelming feeling of being incomplete, or useless. SAVE is a foundation specifically created to better aware the community about this problem. A great way to incorporate discussion in homes is to incorporate the knowledge of the subject in schools. This approach brings the topic to an educational perspective and becomes a topic broadly discussed throughout the nation like drug and alcohol abuse.

Although the topic of suicide is becoming increasingly recognized, and is rapidly moving into more mainstream topics of conversation, there are still steps to be taken when it comes to suicide prevention. It is vital that steps are taken to insure that depression and other mental illnesses are able to be discussed in all settings. The SAVE program is taking initiative to try and change the societal norm surrounding suicide, it is up to the rest of us to embrace their ideas and run with them. The cost of indifference is too great not to. Every neighbor has a problem. Each person can be the solution.

Work Cited

• "11 Facts About Suicide." DoSomething.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
• "About Teen Suicide." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Ed. Michelle J. New. The Nemours Foundation, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
• Myers, David G. Myers' Psychology for AP. New York, NY: Worth, 2011. Print.
• "Save. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education." SAVE. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.