September is suicide prevention month, and we lose many people worldwide due to suicide. Suicide is a very big topic not only in school but in everyday life. With people being affected by it from their experience or from the experience of the people around them.
According to Erika Compos, school Mental Health Clinician, she feels that “Education on suicide prevention is very needed when working with students. It is very important for people to know the signs in any case of crisis.” She connects to suicide by building a relationship with that certain person and try understanding what they are going through and offering any type of support they can get.
Compos feels it is important to make connections with people when they’re giving off signs of being suicidal. Compos adds, “look at their history and see if they had any previous attempts and educate them on coping skills to deal with this or their stresses and make sure they are linked to any type of support or any other resources.”
Michael Ramos is part of campus security, he feels that suicide awareness should be, “addressed a lot more sincere and seriously because suicide prevention needs to be in every kid’s life.” Ramos himself has experienced a loss of someone dear to him due to suicide and explains, “You feel guilty and start reminiscing on things you might have been able to do or signs you were not aware of.” Loosing this person has affected Ramos’ life because, “I have known him since he was a little kid, he was like a cousin to me he grew up with my family since he was like two and committed suicide when he was 28 years old.”
For school environments suicide prevention is a heavy topic. Jessica Finley, a teacher at Ridgeview explains, “We always watch these videos as part of our staff training in the beginning of the school year.” These videos are to help the staff at Ridgeview be aware of the warning signs students might give if they are having suicidal thoughts.
Some events that took place in Bakersfield included The County Administrative Building was lit up with teal and purple lights throughout September to raise awareness for suicide prevention and recovery. Also, AMI said their Sharing Hope Together Forum was held in partnership with Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services on Tuesday, Sept. 12 from 1 to 3 p.m. On campus the parent center did a workshop for suicide prevention. It was held on Sept 14. Although September is Suicide Prevention Month it is still an everyday topic for people around the world. It’s important to look out for those around you in and out of the classroom. As well as to be aware of how you treat others as well as how others are treating each other.
