| Getting Started: The class that is being taught consists of approximately 24 tenth grade high school speech students. The school is Holland High School, which is located in Holland, MI. Holland has a population of approximately 50,000 and this particular high school�s population is about 1,200 students. The majority of the students are non-Hispanic Caucasians. However, the Hispanic and Black composition of the population is growing steadily. The majority of students are from middle class families with an average socioeconomic status. However, many Hispanic students have parents who are migrant workers and are new to the area. *Monday: Goal/Objective: To see how familiar students are with topic of suicide and to find out what ideas/thoughts they have about the topic. The goal is to get students to feel comfortable talking about the topic and to get them to share their feelings about the subject. Another objective is to educate students about some of the myths/facts about suicide. Writing Plans: Students will write a journal/freewrite in which they talk about what their feelings are about suicide. The prompt could be �In what ways have you heard about the topic of suicide?� or �Why do you think an adolescent might commit suicide?� In this journal/freewrite students would include any questions that they have regarding the subject and/or what they would like to know about teenage suicide. This journal would be collected so the teacher would know what areas to cover and what questions the students have. Secondly, there would be a �pop quiz� regarding facts/myths about suicide. The students would be given statements and they would have to decide whether they were facts or myths about suicide. The �quiz� would not be graded, but the correct answers would be discussed so students would have accurate information in order to increase their awareness about teenage suicide. Example questions: �People who talk about suicide don�t kill themselves.� (myth) �8 out of 9 suicide victims have spoken about their intent before killing themselves.� (fact) �People who talk about suicide don�t kill themselves.� (myth) �Most people who commit suicide are confused about whether or not they want to live or die. Suicide is often a cry for help that ends in tragedy.� (fact) *Tuesday: Goal/Objective: The intents of today�s exercises is to make students aware of the statistics regarding teenage suicide in this country and to help them realize the significance of these statistics. Another goal is to help students emphasize the importance of suicide and to get the message out to others. Writing Plans: Students will read several articles from newsmagazines and newspapers that report the statistics regarding teenage suicide (age, gender, methods, reasons). They will then take those statistics and information that they find from numerous sources and write a 1-2 minute newsbroadcast to present to the class. Included in the newscast must be why this topic is of importance and why everyone should be informed about its significance. In small groups, students will also prepare a list of questions to ask to a panel of individuals that have been affected by teenage suicide. The panel also contains a local psychologist and will be visiting various classrooms during the week. *Wednesday: Goal/Objective: To increase awareness of the warning signs of suicide in adolescents. The goal is to get students to realize that suicidal thoughts/tendencies can occur in a wide range of people, including those that are close to them or themselves. Another goal is for students to hear about one�s personal struggle with depression and suicidal feelings and realize that this is a serious issue to examine. Writing Plans: After an all-school assembly that consists of a motivational speaker and his/her account of attempted suicide, students will write a reaction journal to the speaker�s thoughts. Secondly, students will complete a double-entry journal. The first entry will be what students think some of the warning signs of suicide may be. The teacher will then provide numerous signs to look for in a person that may indicate suicidal tendencies. The second entry of the double-entry journal will be what students have learned about indications of suicide. They should include why they think it is important to be aware of the warning signs that individuals may exhibit. Students will also attend the panelist presentation and ask the questions that they have prepared. *Thursday: Goal/Objective: To demonstrate the effect that suicide has on those who loved the victim. The goal is to get students thinking about how many individuals are affected or touched by the decision to kill oneself. Another objective is to get students thinking about how to respond to those that may be dealing with the loss of a loved one. Writing Plans: Students will watch a video that consists of parents, friends, and relatives of suicide victims. The video will illustrate their hurt, pain, and sense of loss after someone committed suicide. After the video students will write a pretend letter to one of the people in the video. What would they say to this person? What questions do they have for the person? What advice would the person in the video offer? In groups of 3, students will then complete a point of view exercise in which they are given 3 people and they take the point of view one of the people and write what they may be feeling and questions that they may have. For example: The point of view of a high school boy thinking of committing suicide, his best friend who wants to help and thinks something is wrong, and his mother who doesn�t know what to do and is confused about the way in which her son is acting. *Friday: Goal/Objective: To put students in a non-threatening situation that deals with a friend/relative that may be contemplating suicide. The goal of this exercise is to help students realize that suicide is real and that they may be touched by suicide at some point in their lives. Writing Plans: Students will be given a scenario on paper similar to the following: �You go to your best friend�s house after school and find him/her lying in bed, crying, with an empty bottle of pills next to the bed. He/she states that they haven�t been out of bed for days now and that they aren�t sick, just really sad. What are some possible things that you could do or say to this person?� In groups of 3 or 4 students will jot down some ideas that they have with regards to responding to this situation. After each group has some ideas, the whole class would go over each scenario and the teacher would offer feedback and suggestions for each situation. Included in this discussion would be where to go for help and how to get a professional involved. Students would then be provided with literature on where to go for help in their community and who to contact in an emergency situation. As a wrap-up to this activity, students would write a one page response journal to why they think this unit was presented and they it is of importance for someone their age. Included in this response should be what they have learned, were surprised about, or what they want to know more about. The teacher could follow up with answers to questions that the students may have. (*Note: This activity could also involve acting out the scenarios with one student being the one who is suicidal and the others being those trying to help, etc. However, it is important not to intimidate younger students, therefore the activity may seem less threatening on paper, as opposed to acting in front of other classmates.) **Wrap-Up: As a result of these five days of activities, I hope to demonstrate to students that suicide is a very serious issue that may touch the lives of any one of them. Hopefully, it will show that teenage suicide is a real issue in our society and that it is important to educate oneself about the topic. I want to let students know what some of the warning signs may be, the lasting effects that it may have on individuals, and how to offer support to someone that may be feeling possibly suicidal. Success will be measured by the extent of student participation and by the questions that are asked. Through the final writing activity, hopefully it will be clear whether or not the students grasped the main concepts and were affected by the information and activities. Throughout the week I, as the teacher, would participate in each activity that the students are assigned. For example, I would be asking questions of the panel and I would also be writing a pretend letter to a person in the video. It is important to show that everyone is affected by suicide, not just teenagers. I see myself as a mentor and guide in this unit, making students feel comfortable with the topic by offering support and encouragement when they have questions or concerns. This is not a unit where the teacher has all of the right or wrong answers, but it is an issue where the teacher needs to be caring, involved, and interested in what students have to say. The writing process is incorporated a great deal in this unit because it is a great way for students to express their feelings about the topic. For example, students will participate in activities such as journaling, double-entry journals, news writing, and letter writing. Every activity involves writing of some sort and each writing assignment varies to maintain student interest while discussing a very serious subject. |
| Teen Suicide Awareness & Prevention Plan |
| Last Modified 6/22/03 by Lynnae J. Sale |
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