Suicide prevention and schools

Abstract

I recently heard of a principal who had been enthusiastically promoting a suicide prevention program in his school. The program had been going for two years and was considered effective. It was a small school and I calculated that statistically one suicide might be expected every 15 years. The claim for efficacy regarding suicide prevention seemed premature although the program may have been helpful in other ways.

A recent analysis of the efficacy of state initiatives in the USA addressing youth suicide reported encouraging results with most (non-school) initiatives (Lester, 1992). However, with school programs the more students exposed, the greater the increase in youth suicide rates was found. School initiatives in this area seem to have an abundance of enthusiasm and goodwill but have lacked the critical appraisal necessary for success. It is time for enthusiastic chaos to be replaced with more level-headed approaches.

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