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The goal of our project "See the Signs, Save a Life" aims to train students to recognise the signs of suicide and to take action to help someone who is struggling with suicide. School environment: We aim to create an environment in our school where people are comfortable talking about suicide and where mental health is openly discussed and destigmatized. Creating a Lasting Impact: Our project aims to enable students to speak up, take action and save lives by reaching out to people having suicidal thoughts.
Our Social Issue
High rates of suicide especially in young men.
Why We Chose It
We chose suicide prevention because we believe that there is not enough being done in Ireland to stop suicide. Ireland has the 4th highest suicide rate for young men in the European Union. Suicide is the largest cause of death in young men aged between 15 and 34 yet there is no course for people under the age of 18 to receive training in suicide prevention. We are taught in school how to save someone who is choking or having cardiac arrest yet there is no training for saving suicidal people. We feel very strongly that this needs to change.
Our Goal
Our goal is to better educate people on suicide and the prevention of suicide, so that they will know what to do if someone around them is having suicidal thoughts. We also want to break the stigma surrounding the topic, allowing people to feel safe to confide their issues in a friend. Ultimately the main goal of our project is to prevent suicide and save lives.
Our Innovative Action
We organised a Safe Talk training course in cooperation with Helena Cogan a HSE suicide prevention officer in school for staff, students over the age of 18 and parents. After they took the course our parents decided that the course would be beneficial for us. Helena agreed to deliver the course making us the first under-eighteen people in Ireland to receive the Safe Talk suicide prevention course. We created social media accounts, poster and a noticeboard to spread useful information about suicide. We also created stickers with suicide helplines on them which we put on the doors of classrooms.
Our Impact
Suicide is huge social issue in Ireland yet many people have no idea how to respond to someone who is suicidal. We have empowered people through training and education about suicide prevention to help the people around them who are struggling with suicidal thoughts. We contacted Helena Cogan, a suicide prevention officer, she gave a Safe Talk course to our parents, some of the school's staff as well as students who are over the age of 18. After doing the course our parents have agreed to let us become the 1st people in Ireland under-eighteen to receive the training.