Feb 18, 2019

Text4Help Press Release - SOOAR Presents 13 Reasons WHY NOT!




PRESS RELEASE!!!!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2-10-2019
SOOAR develops Thirteen (13) Reasons Why Not Suicide Youth Suicide
Prevention Training
(Belleville, Michigan): Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel written in
2007 by Jay Asher. It is the story of a young high school student as she descends into
despair brought on by betrayal and bullying, culminating with her suicide. The main
character, Hannah, details the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide in an
audio diary which is mailed to a friend two weeks after her death. Strategies to
Overcome Obstacles and Avoid Recidivism (SOOAR) developed the 13 Reasons
Why Not program as a part of its efforts to change the conversation around the
Netflix series (13 Reasons Why) and suicide as well as call to action for suicide
prevention by promoting hope, life, cultural resiliency, and community
transformation. The training program was created by Valerie Kelley-Bonner and
Trische Duckworth to address the priority areas that pertain to suicide prevention
and generate knowledge to support community wide suicide prevention efforts.
Based on the 2017 Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, 7.4 percent of youth in grades 9-12
reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months.
Female students attempted almost twice as often as male students (9.3% vs. 5.1%).
Black students reported the highest rate of attempt (9.8%) with white students at
6.1 percent. Approximately 2.4 percent of all students reported making a suicide
attempt that required treatment by a doctor or nurse. For those requiring
treatment, rates were highest for Black students (3.4%).
Suicide affects not just the people who lose their lives but also those who are left to
survive: parents, siblings, friends, families, and communities. Stigma regarding
mental health and suicide is also a pressing issue in communities. National efforts to
increase public awareness about how suicide affects youth are therefore greatly
needed.

The 13 Reasons Why Not program provides the opportunity to increase awareness,
equip school districts and communities with tools for engagement, focus on our
youth, and spotlight current efforts towards suicide prevention.

Contact: Valerie Kelley-Bonner, MBA, CPC-R
Trische’ Duckworth, LLMSW
122 South Street
Belleville, MI 48111
734-697-9511
info@sooar-nonprofit.org



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