Bolster your students' resiliency by fostering protective factors, behaviors, and characteristics that can help them form a barrier against suicide risk factors.
Teen Suicide Prevention: Protective Factors
'Protective factors' are personal, behavioral, or situational characteristics that contribute to a student's resiliency and serve as a buffer against some of the factors that can increase risk.
- Contact with a caring adult.
- Sense of connection or participation in school.
- Positive self-esteem and coping skills.
- Access to and care for mental/physical/substance disorders.
- A sense of connection or participation in school.
- Positive self-esteem and good coping skills.
- Access to care for emotional or physical problems, or for substance abuse disorders.
- Cultural or religious beliefs that discourage suicide and promote self-preservation.
- Teach students that it is okay to ask for help.
- Give students permission to talk about traumatic events like suicide.
- Help students identify trusted adults.
- Encourage participation in school and community activities.
- Acknowledge student efforts.
- Be a good listener, as often as possible.
