Windows and Black Mirrors: Social Media and Youth Suicide

About the event:

Youth suicide has been on the rise since 2007. What is the role of social media and other information and communication technologies on youth mental health? This webinar will translate the most important research on social media and suicide risk into practical tips for parents and teachers; discuss how youth communicate distress online; and review recommendations for addressing suicide risk in online settings.

About the speaker:

Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW is a Professor at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work, Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology, and coauthor of the best-selling text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. He is a two-time winner of the National Association of Social Workers Media Award (2012 and 2016). He was a 2014 Visiting Scholar at Fordham University, the 2017 Lucille N. Austin Scholar at Columbia University, and the 2018 Distinguished Lecturer at Weber State University.  

 Dr. Singer is a well-regarded international speaker who has given hundreds of continuing education workshops, keynote addresses, and presentations on youth suicide, ethics, technology, adolescent development and attachment-based family therapy in the USA, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. He is an NASW Expert, Healio Psychiatry Peer Perspective Board member, and has served on several national youth advisory boards including Sandy Hook Promise, JED Foundation, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  

He is the author of over 80 publications and his research has been featured in national and international media outlets like NPR, BBC, Fox, Time Magazine, and The Guardian. His research collaborations have received private and public funding through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, and other organizations. His co-authored article with Arielle Sheftall and John Ackerman about the news media’s reporting on the suicide deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain won the prestigious 2019 SDX prize for research on journalism.

A pioneer in the integration of technology and social work, Dr. Singer is an original member of the online suicide prevention social media community #SPSM, past-Treasurer for the international human services Information Technology Association (http://husita.org/), co-lead for the Social Work Grand Challenge initiative “Harness Technology for Social Good” (https://grandchallengesforsocialwork.org/harness-technology-for-social-good/), and member of CSWE’s Technology Advisory Group. Dr. Singer is the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast (www.socialworkpodcast.com). Founded in January 2007, the Social Work Podcast is the first podcast by and for social workers, with over 40,000 followers on social media, listeners in 208 countries and territories, and a million podcast episode downloads per year. He lives in Evanston, IL with his wife and three children and can be found on Twitter as @socworkpodcast and Facebook at facebook.com/swpodcast.

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