Embedded Files
Start Learning & Earning Badges in ELC's New Learning Library!
You are already doing it without even realising. Suicide prevention in schools is not only about responding to moments of crisis. It is built every day through the small, compassionate interactions that help young people feel seen, valued and safe. A welcoming school environment, where pupils experience kindness, acceptance and predictable support, plays a central role in reducing distress and helping young people stay connected.
When children and young people know they have trusted adults they can turn to, their worries are less likely to grow in isolation or escalate to thoughts of suicide. Every smile at the school gate, every warm “good morning,” every moment of attention, even when a pupil is not in visible difficulty strengthens their sense of belonging. These everyday acts help pupils feel held within a caring community, making it easier for them to share concerns early and seek help when they need it.
Suicide prevention begins long before a young person reaches a point of crisis. It is woven into the daily culture of a school: in the relationships staff build, the safety they create, and the messages of worth and care they give to every pupil, every day.
Below are some additional activities and behaviours that can add extra layers of protection.
Raising Awareness. One of the best and easiest ways to prevent suicide is to raise awareness of it and to help foster a culture where it feels safe to talk openly about suicide and mental health difficulties. These are very common things that many of us struggle with at various times in our lives but one of the most insidious features of mental illness and suicidality is that it makes you feel alone. The truth is that none of us are alone, especially when it comes to mental health. You'll find some suggestions below of ways to raise awareness of suicide and encourage people to talk openly about it.
Suicidal Thoughts are Common. It's important that we recognise that suicidal thoughts are common among young people. Showing that we understand this and helping pupils to realise this makes it easier to talk about and helps anyone who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide feel less alone.
Understand Risk Factors and Warning Signs
Risk Factors. There are lots of increased risk factors for suicide that we know of; poverty, care experience, past trauma history, bereavement by suicide, history of mental ill heath, substance misuse, neurodiversity, being LGBTQIA+ (particularly trans). If someone with these risk factors experiences hardships like loss, failure, rejection, bullying etc. they are more likely than others to spiral into suicidal thinking. If someone you know is going through a hard time and they carry these additional risk factors, you can ask them if they have any thoughts of suicide. There is guidance on how to do this in the intervention page. It should also be noted, that someone might carry several of these risk factors and never develop suicidal thinking so they can't be relied on alone to give us warnings.
Warning Signs. There is usually no one clear sign that someone is feeling suicidal, unless they directly disclose this. It is more likely that you will notice a number of different signs which, by themselves could be fairly normal but in combination, may require more investigation. Raising awareness about the signs of suicidality in a young person will help to keep people safer.
Things you might notice about a suicidal young person include:
A change in their usual demeanour or behaviour. Are they seeming more sad than usual, more quiet or distracted, lost interest in things they used to like. Are they giving away possessions? Knowing our young people well helps us to recognise when something seems off about them.
Increased Tearfulness, Anxiety or Anger. Feelings of suicide are incredibly difficult to cope with and can come out in varied ways. It is likely that at the point of someone noticing, the person has been dealing with feelings of suicide for some time.
Physical Indicators. Have they lost weight or started taking less care of their appearance/personal hygiene.
Expressing troubling feelings. Are they expressing thoughts or feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness or guilt? We should be especially vigilant for thoughts that they are a burden on people they care about or that others would be better of without them around.
If you notice these signs, it is encouraged that you ask the question "Are you experiencing thoughts of suicide?" Follow this Link for guidance on how you might broach this with a young person.
Talk about it. Suicide is never going to be a fully comfortable topic to discuss but avoiding the subject adds to the stigma around it and prevents people from opening up about their thoughts and feelings. Most of us don't like making others feel uncomfortable, especially those we care about and teenagers especially are hypersensitive to thoughts of being judged or thought of less favourably by their peers and important adults. All of this combined makes young people far less likely to share thoughts of suicide with anyone and this is one of the key factors in suicide deaths.
We can show them that it's a safe topic to broach with us by broaching it with them first. Look for opportunities to talk openly and start conversations about suicide and mental health. The more comfortable we all get in discussing this difficult topic, the safer we will all be.
Up-Skill Staff and Raise Confidence. In a recent survey of East Lothian Education staff, 90% of respondents indicated that they would welcome additional training on Suicide Prevention Approaches. This survey highlighted that most of our staff feel confident in utilising existing systems for safeguarding but that there was a felt need for more specific skill building around having conversations with children and young people about suicide and how best to support when thoughts of suicide are disclosed to them.
The Scottish Government released a resource called "Enabling Conversations" in 2025 which is designed to help young people open up about difficult things like self-harm and suicidal thoughts and help their trusted adults to feel more confident about having the conversation. They can be found here: https://www.suicideprevention.scot/
Page updated
Report abuse