Building resiliency an elementary school goal

Research on youth suicide prevention efforts in schools and communities shows that such programs reduce self-harm, suicide and suicide attempts in young people — but within a year of stopping, the rates begin to creep back toward pre-prevention levels, according to nationwide studies.

“The longer the programs are in place, the greater the effect,” said Joan Asarnow, a suicide researcher and professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, and director of SAMHSA Center for Trauma and Informed Adolescent Suicide, Self-Harm and Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention. “When the programs are withdrawn, the rates go up.”

Although no formal research has been conducted on a potential link between youth suicidality and self-harm and social media, the rise in suicidal thought and behavior in children of all ages, including youngsters as young as four, has paralleled an explosion in social media use by young people, said Joan Luby, a psychiatrist and professor of child psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis.

“Younger and younger children are spending increasing amounts of time — excessive amounts of time — interacting on social media as a replacement for live, in-person relationships. Children are extremely vulnerable to false, overly perfected versions” of peers that contribute early to low self-esteem that can persist as they grow older, Luby said.

Research indicates that exposure to violence also predisposes children to negative thoughts and self-harm. Traumatized pre-schoolers and kindergarteners are vocalizing hopelessness and death wishes, including, “I wish I was dead. I want to kill myself,” Asarnow said.

After youth risk behavior studies in 2017 showed youth suicide climbing fastest among children ages 10-14, educators across the country, in partnership with local mental health workers, have sought ways to bolster mental wellness and resilience among younger children.

Followup studies indicate that certain things work: training adult “gatekeepers” to recognize mental illness and suicide risk, which provides an army of responsible, go-to adults for youngsters to trust and confide in; teaching young children proper school behavior early — how to get along with others, tools for coping with stress, and how to recognize and regulate their unpleasant emotions — and finding ways to increase a child’s sense of safety and connectedness at school and home. Teaching parenting skills that foster structure, consistency, and warm relationships between parents and their children can also buffer youths against suicide risk, research has shown.

New Hampshire schools, guided by requirements set by the state legislature and outlined by the state Department of Education, have come up with multiple approaches to raise emotional wellness and encourage young children to express their feelings and needs.

Bethlehem Elementary School recently turned an unused classroom into a student support center manned by trauma care coordinators — teacher aides trained to recognize and support children with trauma — who serve as on-site compassionate listeners for children who need a break during day, Principal Sue Greenlaw said.

The brightly colored respite room is lined with pictures of students and positive messages, comfortable chairs, and toys and activities that enable a young child to reset, from books to art supplies and “fidget tools,” including squishy balls and Legos for them to hold and manipulate to help calm down, Greenlaw said.

“Some kids will self-advocate, and say, ‘I need a break.’ It’s not punitive. They go in for five to 10 minutes to process and talk, then resume their day.” It has cut down on behavioral referrals to the principal’s office and minimized class interruptions, she said. Children also earn visits for good behavior in class.

Kindergarteners at Claremont’s three elementary schools and at Richards Elementary School in Newport are trying the Miss Kendra Program, a K-12 curriculum featured in the 2016 documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope,” now in about 25 U.S. schools. In kindergarten and first grade, children write about their worries to Miss Kendra, a fictional, resilient single mother who has endured loss, and receive letters back from trained school staff, emphasizing empathy and strength in the face of adversity. Miss Kendra’s Bill of Rights is posted in school, listing child safety basics, such as “No child should be punched or kicked. No child should be bullied or told they’re no good. No child should see other people hurt each other.”

Followup surveys have shown an 85 percent drop in fighting at school, office referrals, and in- and out-of-school suspensions, said Miss Kendra Program Director Cat Davis.

“It’s teaching emotional literacy, helping them learn to articulate [what’s bothering them] instead of showing it in their behavior, and then receive support,” Davis said. “The norm in our culture has been to keep things private — what happens at home stays at home.” Bottling that up isn’t healthy and leads to psychological and physical illness and criminal behavior, she said.

“Sometimes suicide prevention is just as much about building protective factors as it is limiting or eliminating risk factors,”said Kelly Untiet, administrator of the Office of Social and Emotional Wellness at the New Hampshire Department of Education. “Building resiliency in the face of adversity can be a more important goal than avoiding the adversity altogether.”