There has been much coverage in the media in recent years about bullying.  Bullying has been with us for decades, probably centuries.  The explosion of cyberbullying has put the spotlight on bullying as a social problem with our children as the media cover one tragic story after another about bullying.  Is bullying on the rise?  Possibly. Bullying has taken on new forms and appears more sophisticated and pervasive than ever before due to social media technologies.  With traditional bullying, it was thought that children were at least safe at home.  Cyberbullying has allowed children who bully access to targets any time of the day or night.  Furthermore, children being victimized by cyberbullying are reluctant to seek help from parents because they don't want their access to social media restricted.  READ MORE...

Submitted by Jackie Schoening, Regional Coordinator

Suicide touches everyone - all ages and all backgrounds, all racial and ethnic groups, in all parts of the county and every socioeconomic group and education level.  The emotional toll it leaves behind remains long after the event. 

Nationally, Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers (CDC, 2010) unfortunately; it is the second leading cause of death among teenagers in Wisconsin. (MHA-W, 2009).   The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey  State Sample found:

• 22.7% of students reported feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities.
• 13.5% of students reported having seriously considered attempting suicide in the last 12 months.
• 11.5% of students reported having made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the last 12 months.
• 6.7% of students reported having attempted suicide at least once in the last 12 months

As a state, the rates of suicide continues to rise, exceeding those of neighboring states and has remained higher than the national rate for about a decade.  Wisconsin's suicide rate has been higher than the national average since 1998 and has continued to rise, while the national rate has remained relatively consistent. We know that suicide crisis centers in Wisconsin and across the nation have seen an increase in calls since the recession hit.  Stigma over discussing suicidal thoughts, lack of access to mental health care and insufficient funding are barriers to suicide prevention.

As an educator, you have day to day contact with many young people.  There are steps you can take to reduce suicide risk among your students READ MORE