Contact with one caring adult could be enough to prevent a teenager from taking his own life, the Irish Association of Suicidology's conference was told.
The seminar on suicide prevention in schools was told that teachers played "a critical but limited role" in identifying students at risk for suicide and referring them to the appropriate resources.
Prof John Kalafat, of Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology in New Jersey, said contact with at least one caring adult "makes a tremendous difference" to teenagers at risk. Research on inner city youths had found that the ones who succeeded always had a supportive adult in their background.
"Contact with caring adults and a sense of connection with the school are major protective factors against a variety of destructive behaviours, including suicide, substance abuse and interpersonal violence," he said.
He accepted that teachers were overburdened and said "every problem of society ends up getting dumped in schools" including drugs, violence and unsafe sex.
"But I think the most important thing, if you do nothing else, is to listen to them." Prof Kalafat said schools were not designed to encourage much interaction between teachers and students. Nevertheless, schools should foster the attitude that, if a student asks a teacher for five minutes after a class then the teacher should feel able to give that time, even if it means making him late for the next class.
Guidance counsellor Brian Mooney said this was "a real problem" for teachers because if an incident happened or someone was injured in their classroom when they were late for class then they would be held responsible for that.
Prof Kalafat also pointed to the difficulty in knowing who was affected by a suicide as news travelled much further now due to text messages and the internet. And he warned that the internet was uncontrolled when it came to suicide as no media guidelines applied. Websites were being set up helping people to take their own lives. The seminar continues today.
Students at risk of suicide: Dos and don't for teachers
DO say "is there anything I can do to help you feel safe?" Ask "can you tell me what it's like for you, feeling this way?" Say "I'm concerned for you and I'm going to help you find help".
Avoid critical statements.
Give frequent praise.
DON'T promise that you won't tell anyone.
Don't assume that the pupil is trying to get attention.
Don't say you know exactly how the student feels.
Don't try to argue the person out of being suicidal.
Don't say that suicide is "dumb" or tell the student to "snap out of it".
Source: Maureen Underwood, adolescent suicide consultant
