In conjunction with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), Carroll High School is spending the year researching, training, and presenting on issues related to greater awareness of mental health issues among teens. The AFSP is a national organization that provides sound, research-based programming on the prevention of suicide, as well as tools for greater awareness regarding issues of mental health. 

Faculty and Student Training

During an upcoming meeting with the Director of the AFSP, the faculty and staff learn how to identify signs of mental health distress in students and refer them for help. According to the AFSP's website, the program complies with the requirements for teacher education suicide prevention training in many states.”  Once the faculty and staff have those concrete tools, the students will go through training on how to recognize signs and symptoms of depression, understand the stigma of depression, and how to find help for themselves and others.  

ASIST Program

Soon after the student programming, a group of volunteer faculty and staff members will go through an intensive training over two days with other educators in the greater Dayton area called the ASIST program (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training).  ASIST is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Since its development in 1983, ASIST has received regular updates to reflect improvements in knowledge and practice, and more than 1 million people have taken the workshop.

Preparing the Class of 2020 for success

In the Spring, we hope to bring the AFSP in for the graduating seniors to present the program “It’s Real”. This program provides information on mental health issues for students in college and prepares our seniors for the next steps in their lives after Carroll.  

What are the resources for parents?

I’m glad you asked. One resource is checking out these quick videos from the AFSP.  When you visit the site, click on Children and Adolescents for quick research based information on mental health. Spend some time researching, exploring, and talking about these issues with your son or daughter. The more we speak about the topic, the better we can desensitize the stigma of depression and mental health issues with teens, which can begin breaking down barriers.