Vista High aims to dispel myths and raise awareness of suicide prevention
With the presence of social workers on Yuma Union High School District campuses this year – a first for the six-school district – mental health is becoming less of a taboo and more of an open conversation.
At Vista High School, social worker Devin Sioma and other staff comprise a Yellow Ribbon committee affiliated with the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program, a non-clinical program targeted toward preventing teen suicide through education, training and shared resources. While the month of May is recognized across the United States as Mental Health Awareness Month, the committee convenes on a monthly basis to ideate ways to “softly integrate” suicide awareness and intervention into the campus culture.
Last week, students and teachers displayed “helping hands” across their campus by penning encouraging words meant to change someone’s day or mindset and foster human connection.
“Some of the messages were simple and powerful, some were a paragraph of something really powerful that students can read from each other – not just from teachers but from each other, to each other,” Sioma said. “It’s a cathartic opportunity for some of them just to be able to express what they also would like to hear someone say to them. There’s a lot of stigma around coming to Vista; a lot of our students have had additional barriers that have fostered a more difficult journey and they end up coming here. Stigma resonates with them on a deeper level. Our students are smart and insightful, they have a lot of important things to say, and that was evidence of that.”
According to Sioma, offering such tactile support communicates to students that “there’s someone here who can also be a resource for them in addition to their teachers” and is a positive step toward helping students on a more holistic level – which, given the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on life and learning, is critical.
“Even if a student is an introvert, everyone needs human connection,” she said. “There’s been so much grief throughout the pandemic, there’s been so much struggling with attending school and all these other factors in their life that have taken precedence over school. The whole pandemic has really impacted students’ ability to connect with themselves and with other people; when people have time to themselves, they have time to think and perseverate on things that are maybe not going so well in their lives, with the social isolation leading to increasing feelings of depression and anxiety. It’s a health pandemic on multiple levels.”
Since arriving to Vista in August, Sioma has worked to dispel myths about suicide while educating staff on the facts and warning signs of suicidal ideation and ways to take action.
“The teachers are the frontline workers who will probably be the first person to know if a student is in distress,” she said. “We’re teaching them what to look for and how to handle a situation if a student is disclosing self-harm or suicidal ideation and creating links to professional support.”
Through the Yellow Ribbon program, students have access to “Yellow Ribbon cards,” which they can physically hand to a teacher to help initiate a conversation if they are experiencing suicidal thoughts.
“Some students are not necessarily comfortable saying they are having these challenges; they are able to take a card and hand it to someone if they are experiencing suicidal thoughts or inner turmoil, and our staff would be able to be with them until they got (professional) support,” she said. “We’re here to intervene in situations like that and get students connected to higher level care and support. That’s really been our focus: educating staff and putting that messaging out there that you don’t have to be alone with whatever you’re going through. You’re not alone; there’s always a helping hand extended to you.”
Sioma said her primary hope is to dismantle the stigma and make room for more open conversation about suicide prevention.
“It’s OK to not be OK,” she said. “It’s OK to ask for help and it’s OK to have conversations around mental health. Because our students are a little older, they might be a little bit more guarded in discussing a struggle. I think the beauty of the Yellow Ribbon program is that it’s given us the opportunity to really focus on demystifying and destigmatizing this conversation, it’s given us the opportunity to plant the seed so our students know, ‘Hey, you can talk about this.’”
Sioma has also been instrumental in adding a resource station to the campus, where students can find Yellow Ribbon and other hotline cards, community-based resources and tips for self-care and dealing with anxiety. For students who are learning virtually, an online referral system is accessible.
“Some students are more discreet in wanting help; they’d rather grab something instead of talking to someone,” she said. “So we’re really trying to imbed this awareness in little ways and continuing to have those gentle reminders.”