Managing Death Issues in the School. Monograph Series No. 1.

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52

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Washington, DC. School Improvement Programs.

Adolescents; Crisis Intervention; Death; Elementary Secondary Education; Grief; Prevention; Program Development; School Role; Self Destructive Behavior; Student Behavior; Suicide

Many schools have been dealing with youth suicide and other death-related issues. From the experiences of the schools and other community organizations have emerged workable practices and procedures which can be implemented for general use. Schools can now develop and implement comprehensive plans to deal with death issues using a variety of resources. Experience indicates that the school's plan must incorporate policies and procedures dealing with the three components of prevention, intervention, and postvention activities. The 7-part document presents guidelines which have been developed to assist schools in creating such plans. Part I explains the causes of youth suicide and suicide's connection with high-risk, self-destructive behaviors. Part II presents considerations for planning school guidelines. Part III discusses implementation for prevention, intervention, and postvention activities. Part IV describes the training plan. Part V discusses collaboration between the school and other groups. Part VI presents a content summary and Part VII provides a list of 39 practical and readily available resources. Over half of the document consists of appendices which present a variety of materials on legal and administrative issues, prevention, intervention, postvention, and teenage suicide. (NB)

1994

ED361638