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H.E.L.P. Curriculum

a comprehensive curriculum for suicide prevention for health educators

We want to emphasize that our Depression and Suicide Prevention Curriculum is an educational program and is not a therapeutic program. This material is usually developmentally appropriate for 7th through 12th grades. However, it seems to be best suited for 8th or 9th grades. By 12th grade, students are beginning to deal with different issues such as transitions to work or college; before 7th grade, the treatment of such topics as death or help seeking would have to be different.

Class Schedules

The lessons are organized into four 45-minute lesson plans that can be incorporated into existing health classes. They can be easily adapted to two 90-minute sessions. It should be noted that there is a high correlation between adolescent stress, depression and suicide and other topics that are often part of health classes such as substance abuse, mental health issues and teen pregnancy. In preparing to present the material, we recommend that you make good use of time management strategies in presenting the material (note: the curriculum requires that you move at a steady, albeit not rushed, pace).

Educational Focus

Through collaboration with educators, the lesson plans have been organized based on sound educational principles of interactive teaching. They are hopefully devoid of mental health jargon. The lessons are problem versus content-centered in that the material is based on issues that students are currently dealing with such as keeping confidences. We believe it is important that students be taught basic intervention skills to help persons-at-risk. Teens typically confide in other teens and say the reason they do not confide in adults is because:

School schedules and other organizational characteristics prevent students from getting to know adults well enough to feel comfortable confiding in them. We consider the perceived inaccessibility and reluctance of adolescents to seek out helpful adults to be a risk factor that contributes to destructive outcomes associated with a variety of adolescent risk behaviors. Therefore we created this curriculum to address this issue.

Exercises and the use of media promote participatory learning. Each lesson is limited to about three basic points, which is the most that students (teens and adults alike) will retain in a 45 minute period.

Teacher Provided

The lessons are designed for presentation by regular classroom teachers rather than external consultants. This is cost effective as well as consistent with the goal of enhancing school-based student supports. That is, research seems to show that when students have particular concerns, they are more likely to talk about them with an adult who has demonstrated some interest and expertise in that area. Therefore, when classroom teachers cover material on depression and suicide, students may see them as concerned, responsive adults who are available during school hours. Conversely, research has shown that contact with helpful adults may be considered a protective factor for a variety of troubled youth.

Students have also told us that they are more likely to perceive as helpful, staff and faculty who take the time to interact with them outside of the confines of their office and classroom. Presenting the curriculum can enhance the credibility of a teacher in this area, but such additional interaction with students may be necessary to increase the likelihood that students will see them as a resource.