skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

“Rapid Response” Back-to-School Suicide Prevention in NH

play audio
Play

Monday, August 20, 2012   

CONCORD, N.H. - In the county with the highest suicide rate in the state, many New Hampshire high school students will have someone to turn to if they feel depressed or suicidal this fall: specially trained fellow students. Stephen Brooks, the Kiwanis Club of Colebrook advisor, says most young people who die by suicide tell someone in advance of their plan. That's why he took a suicide-prevention training course last year, along with seven students from Colebrook Academy who are also members of the Kiwanis "Key Club."

Brooks says those students then helped train 60 of their peers to recognize the warning signs of suicide and depression.

"The key is quicker response time. A friend's going to notice something sometimes quicker than a parent will, just because they have more access to you. Parents are working, parents are busy, kids are busy - but they see their friends a majority of the day."

According to the New Hampshire Department of Education, one in four high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for a period lasting at least two weeks in 2011.

Sebastian Young is one of the Key Club students who trained to be a suicide-prevention facilitator. He hopes more high school students will learn the skills, to replace those like him who have moved on to to college.

"Here in the North Country, we have a higher suicide rate than in most places, so I got involved. We were trained to identify people who were at risk for suicide, how to get them the help they need, and if they aren't willing to go, how to tell somebody for them and get that person to them."

Brooks says it's vital that kids of high-school age understand that when they hear a fellow student say they feel hopeless or suicidal, they need to act.

"Just tell somebody. You need to tell somebody so they can get some help. They may be mad at you at first, but in the end they're not going to be mad anymore, because they're going to get the help that they need."

Five adults and seven students with the Colebrook Key Club received the National Association of Mental Health "Youth Leadership Award" for their suicide-prevention efforts.

New Hampshire suicide statistics are available at the Department of Education website.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021