Students gather to tie purple ribbons around trees in honor of suicide prevention week (Brooks/LION).

Picture your close friend sitting across from you opening up about suicidal thoughts. Your throat tightens, you struggle to find the right words and you both sit in silence while you feel you’ve just invalidated their struggle. You have to make a decision: to keep silent or to act. 

This hypothetical situation is a reality for some teenagers. So for Suicide Prevention week on Sept. 9-13, LT is encouraging all to take it upon themselves to find the right words and resources before they’re put in that situation so that the right choice of taking action is made. 

Suicide Prevention Week is a national campaign to prevent suicide and save lives. This year’s national slogan is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide” and “Start the Converstaion” which works in conjuction with LT’s slogan of “Just say Hello.”

At LT, there are several planned events: the Junior Student Services Support Team will provide facts and awareness not only about suicide but mental health struggles that prompt suicidal thoughts. Events include resource awareness emails to parents, students and staff, daily announcements, purple ribbons around the school, Life Saver day, and classroom handouts of suicide warning signs. On Sept. 11, LT also encouraged students and staff to wear purple to represent unity and show support.  Students will also be encouraged to reach out and speak up for the safety of themselves or others by using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and the LTHS Speak-Up Line. 

Suicide Prevention Week resonates with social worker Annette Butler personally as she has had to make the decision to speak up for peers in her life and can recall important parts of her high school experience where the pressure of life effected others around her. There are many things she’s learned in the beginning of her career but one has stuck out as overarching.

“You don’t need to be a doctor to save lives,” Butler said. “Every kid could be a lifesaver by just getting a trusted adult involved.”

For students to learn what getting involved entails, social workers will also be presenting group guidance on suicide prevention for freshman, sophmores, and juniors. The purpose of the meeting is to educate and open the discussion on suicide. Butler and LT hope that destigmatizing the conversation will empower students to help people experiencing a crisis. The group guidance will also teach warning signs of suicide, and critique normalized harmful language surrounding suicide. LT is only part of making the national problem of suicide a national conversation and encourages all students to take away information learned in school to spread to others. Family and peers outside of school are all affected by suicide and by educating students as young individuals, it can trickle down to create more awareness for generations to come.

“Seek help,” Butler said. “LT has a team of nonjudgmental mental health professionals in Student Services trained to respond to students in crisis.”