Broken Arrow moms and new law look to end childhood suicide - KTUL
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (KTUL) — A group of moms, recently dubbed Sharing The Light, have been meeting weekly to help stop suicides in the state of Oklahoma.
“My son’s friend committed suicide and he came up to me and he said ‘Mom, I don’t understand why they did that. They looked so happy. They were smiling. I don’t understand why she did that,’” said Cecilia Lopez, the groups founder.
Lopez would soon reach out to other moms on the Nextdoor App, where she found moms like Judy Atkins more than willing to do the research needed to help. They said their goal is to find more ways to prevent suicide throughout the state.
“I’m a survivor myself,” Atkins said. “We didn’t take this group lightly, we wanted to come in and really know what we were doing. We want to get the right resources and training so that we can reach as many people as we can one life at a time.”
The group has been involved in various suicide prevention trainings, including emergency mental health gatekeeper training with the Mental Health Association Oklahoma.
In 2020, 883 Oklahomans committed suicide, including 38 youths between 8 and 17-years-old, along with another 112 young adults 18 to 24. To help address the high suicide rate of Oklahoma’s children and young adults, Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, authored Senate Bill 1307 which was recently signed into law.
“Suicide is the second leading cause of death among our state’s youth and claimed the lives of 40 kids under the age of 17 in 2020,” Coleman said. “There’s no rhyme or reason as to why someone makes this tragic decision, but I want to ensure our students have a constant reminder on their students IDs that they are not alone and there is always someone a phone call away to help them in times of crisis.”
Beginning July 1, 2023, school districts and charter schools will be required to print the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988 on student ID cards for 7th – 12th grades. The state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has announced it will be launching the new, easier to remember 988 number statewide in July 2022. SB 1307 will also allow schools the option of printing the Crisis Text Line on ID cards, which can be accessed by texting HOME to 741741.
If you or someone you know is facing a mental crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
source: https://ktul.com/news/local/broken-arrow-moms-and-new-law-look-to-end-childhood-suicide
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.