School-Based Program Aimed at Suicide Prevention

New funding will ensure that a growing number of high school students—and for the first time, middle school students—in U.S. schools will be able to help prevent suicide in their peers.

The Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program, an initiative of Screening for Mental Health Inc., educates students through a video describing how they can identify the symptoms of depression and suicidality in their friends and classmates and encourages them to seek help when they believe someone may be at risk of suicide.

According to Screening for Mental Health Inc., since the program's inception in 2000, more than 1,500 schools across the United States have implemented it.

Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) successfully lobbied for $100,000 to bring the SOS program to 300 high schools throughout Ohio. In addition, a $99,000 grant from the federal Center for Mental Health Services will bring the SOS program to a number of new schools across the nation.

Funding from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation will also bring the SOS program to an unspecified number of middle schools in Massachusetts.

Additional information about the Signs of Suicide program is posted online at<www.mentalhealthscreening.org>.▪