Warning Signs (suicide prevention)

Lesson: Suicide and Prevention

Unit: Mental and Emotional Health

Age: Middle or High School

Prep: lesson about Suicide and Prevention, link to A Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story

How I do the activity:

I do this activity directly following a lesson that I teach on Suicide and Prevention. During this lesson I have a discussion with my class as to why individuals commit suicide (specifically teenagers), warning signs that someone might be struggling with suicidal thoughts and depression, and what they should do if they think they or someone they know might be contemplating suicide. Once we are done with this discussion I inform them that we will be watching a video about a true story of a high school student whose best friend committed suicide at the end of their senior year. I inform them that though this video is dated and many of the references might be "cheesy", the story is nonetheless very powerful and real. Finally I tell them that during the video they need to take notes and list at as many warning signs of suicidal thoughts and actions as they can, and that we will be having a discussion after.
Depending on when I start the video it usually takes me 2 full class periods to do my lesson on Suicide Prevention, watch the video, and have a discussion. Once the video is complete I use remainder of this second period to discuss as a class all of the warning signs that they saw, as well as what the main character (Robert) did well and what he should have done instead. Finally, as this can be a heavy and emotional few lessons, I use the last 5 minutes of class on the 2nd day to play an energizer and lighten up the mood.


Disclaimer: in the video there are a few scenes where there is teenage drug and alcohol abuse, as well as language. As such I would highly recommend running the video by your principal and / or the parents of your students before showing it. Also it is fairly easy to censor the more questionable dialogues without hindering the integrity of the video.