Suicide Prevention for Educators

Safe Messaging

Course Description

Districts that are more aggressively taking steps to prevent suicide in their schools may engage in a variety of strategies. It is critical that educators and school personnel who are leading these initiatives are fully aware of current safe messaging guidelines. Even with our best intentions, failing to follow these guidelines may have unintended negative consequences.

What You’ll Learn

Participants will be able to summarize best practices for safe messaging about suicide.

Participants will be able to describe how certain practices for reporting and communicating about suicide can increase the risk of suicide contagion.

Participants will be able to locate resources and information about a statewide youth suicide prevention PSA contest for high school students.

Learning Assests

Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). Safe and Effective Messaging for Suicide Prevention.

Available Here

Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide comes from a collaborative effort of many of the nation’s leading organizations. It is a useful tool and guideline for not only working with the media but also in the development of PSA’s and other messaging in schools.

Available Here

National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Framework for Successful Messaging.

Available Here

Facilitators

Matthew Wintersteen, Ph.D

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior Director of Research, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Executive Board, Prevent Suicide PA, Philadelphia, PA

Terri A. Erbacher, Ph.D

Clinical Associate Professor, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Author of Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-Level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention

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Funding
This website was made possible by Grant Number H79SM082149 from the SAMHSA. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the SAMHSA.

Disclaimer
The PreventSuicideNJ portal contains links to resources owned and operated by third parties. These resources are provided for your information and convenience. The State of New Jersey Department of Health and collaborative partners are not responsible for the content of these websites. The PreventSuicideNJ portal does not provide medical advice, treatment or diagnoses.