Suicide Prevention Policy and Law

Alyssa Cottle

Who here knows someone who has taken their own life? Who has attended school with them,
worked with them? Who knew what was on their mind? Who knew how to help?

I am originally from Southern California. When I was a freshman in high school, my friend
Daniel took his life. He was 15 and he didn’t want to live anymore. When his parents asked
around to find out why, no one knew. No teachers, no friends. When I was 19, I was living in
France. My family wrote me telling me that a previous best friend of mine—Joan, had also
taken her own life. She was 20. She, too, didn’t want to live anymore.

I moved home from France and I was excited to hear that my family had moved to Herriman,
Utah. In my mind, and in the mind of my family, this was going to be a religious community,
full of positivity and support for my younger brother who was struggling with suicidal
thoughts and feelings himself.

We were wrong. In the 2017 school year, seven children attending Herriman High took their
own lives (Lovett, 2019). Most of them were religious—most of the suicides were
unexpected and not foreseen. It still didn’t hit home for me until my brother was minutes
away from joining that statistic. But someone saw what was coming. Someone helped him.

The chances are high that at this moment in time, everyone in this room knows someone, or
has had someone in their community take their own life by choice. Also likely, is that
everyone in this room is aware of a child, or a young person, who has taken their own life.
Suicide is currently a leading cause of death, not only in my brother’s high school but in our
nation. But what makes suicide different, is that it is 100% preventable. Suicide is the second
leading cause of death in individuals between the ages of 10-34 (Center for Behavioral
Health Statistics and Quality). In children between the ages of 10 and 14, the number of
suicides has more than doubled since 2006 (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and
Quality). Children are losing their lives. How are we—the adults— going to help them?

In 2007, an Act was passed in Tennessee called the Jason Flatt Act (The Jason Foundation).
This Act was a legislation that would become the nation’s most inclusive legislation—
mandating suicide awareness and prevention training for all educators in the state. In order to
be licensed to teach, educators are required to have a two hour training each year. Many
states have followed, including Idaho in 2018 (The Jason Foundation). 20 States have
accepted this as law. This is not enough.

Yes, this legislation is focused on the children. While it is focused on lowering suicides
around several states in the nation, it is focused on training educators to help individual
children. Teachers are being prepared and made aware of individual warning signs of those
who need help.

The Jason Flatt Act is a good step in preventing youth suicide. But it is not the best. Only 20
 states have implemented it—40% of America. This Act is an act that needs to be consistently
revised and improved. It needs to be required nation-wide. It needs to be all-encompassing
and all-reaching. Teachers need to yes—be trained. They also need to be required to report
on what they find and to create a plan to help. We cannot forget about the children. They
need the help of adults who know how to help them and what to look for. Adults who are
willing to work with supportive parents and help fill a void for children who do not have that
same privilege.

My brother—who means the world to me, was saved—by an adult who knew the facts, who
saw the signs, and who created a plan to help. He saved one. Expanding this law can save
many.

References

The Jason Foundation. (2020). The Jason Foundation. https://jasonfoundation.com/

Lovett, I. (2019). One Teenager Killed Himself. Six More Followed. The Wall Street Journal

Eastern Edition, 0.

Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2018). Youth risk behavior surveillance—

United States, 2017. MMWR 67(SS-8).

Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2018). WISQARS Leading Causes of Death

Reports. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.