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Signs of Suicide (SOS) for Parent/Guardians
Dear Parent/Caregiver,
All middle and high schools in FCPS teach students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. All schools use an evidence-based program called Signs of Suicide (SOS). The program teaches students about this difficult topic and encourages them to seek help. SOS has been used by thousands of schools over the past few decades. Studies have shown that it effectively teaches students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts.
Through the program, students learn:
- Depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help
- How to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend
- ACT (Acknowledge, Care and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend
- Who they can turn to at school for help, if they need it
Students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend.
Following the video, students will complete a brief depression screening tool. This tool cannot provide a diagnosis of depression but does indicate whether a young person should be referred for evaluation by a mental health professional.
We encourage you to visit www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn. You can also view this parent video or visit this site to learn more about how you can continue this important conversation at home. On October 2nd at 12:00 p.m in Student Services, we will have an opportunity for parents/guardians to preview the student lesson and ask questions about the screening process.
At West Springfield High School, the SOS lesson and accompanying screening will occur on October 7th for the ninth-grade students and November 19th for the eleventh-grade students.
We recognize that you may have opted your child out of this program through the Parent Digital Consent tool (PDC). If you did not complete opt-out using the PDC and would still like to do so you can opt out your child out of this lesson by emailing the Director of Student Services Mr. Basta at Jbasta@fcps.edu by October 3rd, 2024.
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