(above, l-r) Back row: Jack Mossawir, Katie Hynes, Jillian DeDomenico, Julie Ashare, Ashley Klein; Front row: Lauren Donohue, Ashleigh Bahadur, and Connie Liu.
Westfield High School Students Complete Suicide Intervention Training
Most teens are painfully aware of today’s suicide epidemic. Every day, on average, over 3,041 high school students in the United States attempt suicide. Suicide kills more teenagers and young adults than cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined. Here, in New Jersey, the picture for teens is equally grim; since 2003, suicide rates have increased among 10 to18 year olds – the only age category to increase rates during this period.
When Westfield High School students heard about a training to recognize and intervene with people in crisis, eight students stepped up. “I was told about the opportunity by my Health teacher Mrs. Kolesar,” said Junior Jack Mossawir. “Suicide has affected me and people around me so I wanted to prepare for the future.”
Jack joined his classmates at a two-day, 16-hour suicide intervention training that ran over the weekend of June 8th. Caring Contact, a local crisis hotline, taught a program known as ASIST – Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, the most broadly implemented suicide prevention training program in the world. The program teaches participants how to recognize the signs of someone having thoughts of suicide and assist them to create a plan to support their immediate safety. The eight students who completed the training were Jack Mossawir, Katie Hynes, Jillian DeDomenico, Julie Ashare, Ashley Klein, Lauren Donohue, Ashleigh Bahadur, and Connie Liu.
The students already have plans to put their skills to use. “I run the Silver Lining Mental Health Awareness Club at Westfield High School,” said Ashleigh Bahadur, “I thought that the ASIST training would be great to pass on to other teenagers so we can be more prepared to prevent suicide in our community.” Her classmate Julie Ashare added, “If anyone in my life reaches out I will use my ASIST skills to talk to them. I plan to check on others when it seems like they’re having a tough time.”
A grant from the Westfield Area Youth Volunteer Experience (WAYVE) and a generous donation from The Westfield Foundation made the training possible. “We were thrilled to receive funding for six high school students to attend our ASIST training from WAYVE, and even more pleased when it took only one day for 9 students to express interest,” stated Caring Contact Executive Director Janet Sarkos. “This shows us that students want to be empowered to help themselves and their friends who are in emotional distress.”
Caring Contact is an award-winning, volunteer-staffed crisis hotline and listening community, providing active listening support and best-in-class training to the Central and Northern New Jersey community. More than 100 trained volunteer listeners answered close to 11,000 calls last year from people in crisis, having suicidal thoughts or simply feeling depressed and lonely. Anyone interested in registering for Caring Contact’s Hotline Listener Training should visit caringcontact.org/volunteer-listener-application or call 908-301-1899. Fall training classes begin September 16, 2109.
