Gov. Nathan Deal recently signed into law the Jason Flatt Act of Georgia, a significant step forward in addressing the issue of youth and adolescent suicide in our state. With passage of the act, Georgia becomes the sixth state to require annual suicide awareness and prevention training for public school personnel, and school policies on suicide prevention.
The act is named after Jason Flatt, a 16-year-old student, son and brother who killed himself in 1997 in his hometown of Hendersonville, Tenn. Following his son’s death, Clark Flatt established The Jason Foundation, dedicated to the prevention of youth suicide through educational and awareness programs.
According to the latest Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8.8 percent of Georgia high school students attempted suicide one or more times during the 12 months before the survey, and 12.3 percent of Georgia middle school students have made a plan how they would kill themselves.
Deaths from youth suicides are only part of the challenge. Many more young people survive suicide attempts than actually die.
Every day, more than 1.7 million students are educated at more than 2,250 public schools in Georgia. When combined with the more-than 112,000 public school teachers in the state, almost one-fifth of Georgia’s population passes through our public schools on any given weekday.
The act requires that all certificated public school personnel in Georgia (such as teachers and counselors) be provided with annual training regarding youth suicides, and for every public school district to formulate a policy on suicide prevention, intervention and “postvention” — outreach and support for family and friends of a person lost to suicide, who may be at increased risk of suicide themselves.
The act does not require educators to become therapists, social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists. It provides them with tools to address the existing classroom challenge of students considering suicide, the overwhelming majority of whom are experiencing treatable mental health illnesses. By enabling educators to address the issue by referring students to appropriate professionals, the legislation enables the classroom to more quickly return to its academic setting.
Approximately 90 percent of those who have died from suicide had a diagnosable mental illness. Often, however, their illnesses had not been recognized, diagnosed or adequately treated. Young people who show early signs of mental illness or psychological distress often do not receive treatment because of stigma or because they lack information about where to go. Yet delayed treatment is associated with incomplete and prolonged recovery.
Early detection of mental illness and intervention helps kids stay in school, hold down jobs, and generally manage their conditions while pursuing the healthiest lives possible. Without intervention, child and adolescent illnesses frequently continue into adulthood, at significant costs to the individual and society. If the system does not appropriately identify and treat students early, these childhood illnesses may persist and lead to a downward spiral of school failure and poor employment opportunities and poverty in adulthood.
While schools are primarily concerned with education, mental health is essential to learning as well as to social and emotional development. Because of this important interplay between emotional health and school success, schools are already partners in the mental health care of our children.
Educators play an active role in suicide prevention by fostering the emotional well-being of all students, not just those already at risk. Educators are well-positioned to promote connectedness and belonging in the school community. Connectedness is important to improving academic achievement and enhancing healthy behaviors; it is also specifically related to reductions in suicidal thoughts and attempts.
Gov. Deal and members of the Georgia Assembly – in particular, Rep. Katie Dempsey and Sen. Renee Unterman — are to be applauded for their commitment to the health and well-being of Georgia’s children and their families. Addressing suicide risks honestly and directly, as the Jason Flatt Act does, will help reduce the stigma that has been associated with mental health issues for far too long.
Suicide touches everyone: all ages and incomes; all racial, ethnic and religious groups; all genders and sexual orientations, and in all parts of the state. The emotional toll on those left behind remains long after the death. The mental health resources provided by the Jason Flatt Act will attend to the health and behavioral concerns of students, reduce unnecessary pain and suffering, and enhance the potential for greater academic achievement. Most important, the act will protect Georgia families by saving Georgia lives.
Roland J. Behm is co-chairman of the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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