Citation

Malhi GS, Bell E. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 2020; 54(9): 863-866.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0004867420952880

PMID

32865448

Abstract

Remarkably, suicide remains the leading cause of death in youth aged 15-24 years, and for every young person that takes their own life, there are up to 200 suicide attempts. Suicide in youth of school age invariably impacts their school. This is necessarily the case when suicide occurs at school, but even when it occurs in a setting remote from the school, it affects peers, teachers and often the school body as a whole. This is because schools form a large part of students' lives, both in terms of the actual time they spend attending school and the environment they provide for friendships with peers and key formative relationships with teachers. And it is important to note that these personal, professional and social networks can extend across a number of schools.

For teachers, the pupils are their primary focus. Teachers want to educate and more broadly cultivate young individuals so that they are properly equipped to deal with the adult world. In other words, schools invest in the nurturing of children, and in partnership with parents contribute to their growth and development. When things are going well and a child is flourishing, there is an understandable sense of shared achievement and everyone feels they have contributed, and therefore collectively, the student, the parents and the school body can all feel justifiably proud. However, when things go wrong, this sense of joint responsibility gives way to a need to better define individual duties and demarcate various roles. But given the interwoven nature of these matters, this is inherently difficult...

Language: en