This school year on Wednesday, November 13th and Tuesday, November 19th, school staff are working to teach ninth grade students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. We are using a 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: 

• that depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help  
• how to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend 
• to 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 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5e27-ocGBHqSSvbIIL9-1Ibr8gutAe5k) to learn more.  If you would like to view the student video and/or ask questions about the presentation you are invited to do so on Wednesday, November 6th at 9:45 am in the Herndon High School Lecture Hall. 

If you would like to opt your child out of this lesson, please complete this opt-out Google form https://forms.gle/WiguCZw6DvZQKXcS9.