JEFFERSON TWP — All teachers and their aides in the South Butler School District are learning how to deal with students who are talking or thinking about suicide.

For teachers of older children — sixth to 12th grades — the training is required under a state law signed in 2014. The law went into effect in the 2015-16 school year.

However, the district is going even further to train teachers of much younger students.

To that end, the school district recently hosted a suicide prevention and awareness training session.

Starting in the 2015-16 school year, schools were required to submit plans to train staff in suicide prevention for four hours every five years, according to the department of education.

Diane McGaffic, an instructor with the educational support agency Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, has been traveling to schools in the area, training teachers on what they need to know about suicide.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed suicide as the third leading cause of death for teenagers in 2009. In 2014, it was the second leading cause. A 2010 report from the CDC estimated that one in every 15 high school students attempts suicide each year.

While the law requires sixth to 12th grade staff to be trained, the program focuses on people from 10 to 25 years old, McGaffic said.

And unfortunately, the age at which suicidal thoughts start has been dropping, she said.

To help younger students, South Butler eventually will train all professional staff, regardless of what grade they work with, according to Greg Hajek, the district’s director of special services.

In May, teachers and aides who work in kindergarten to fifth grade or in special education will complete the training as well.

“We just think it’s good information for everyone to have,” Hajek said. “It’s good awareness ... At a young age, they might not always know, but it might be the beginning patterns of setting up unhappiness or self-worth. There are so many things within self-esteem, about having confidence, being able to see perspective outside of yourself.”

Through this training, McGaffic hopes teachers will be feel more confident in identifying students who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. Although, this training does not make teachers mental health professionals, she said.

“It’s teaching teachers to be gatekeepers, not professional psychiatrists or psychologists,” she said. “They will look for risk factors and warning signs in their students.

“Teachers have sometimes more contact with the kids than parents do. It’s just having another set of educated eyes on the students.”

One of the ways teachers can keep an eye on this is through risk factors and warning signs, McGaffic said.

A risk factor means someone is at a heightened risk for suicide without necessarily indicating immediate risk of attempting suicide, like abuse of alcohol or drugs, mental disorders or mood disorders, social isolation or knowing someone who died by suicide. For example, students who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender or questioning are also at a higher risk based on the discrimination they face, McGaffic said.

A warning sign is something that identifies an immediate risk of suicide. Examples of warning signs include talking about wanting to die or kill oneself, feeling hopeless or trapped, talking about being a burden to others, increasing use of alcohol and drugs or behaving recklessly.

The best way a teacher can help in that situation is to reach out to the child or get them connected with guidance counselors or resources at the district, according to Hajek.

“Having a relationship with that child is half the battle,” he said. “Maybe it’s not a warning sign but there are some risk factors, and making that personal connection could alleviate some of those factors.”

McGaffic said having an adult to trust can be a major protective factor for those who are considering suicide or have suicidal thoughts.

“I think it’s very important to put into place protective factors, to put into place a healthy school community,” she said.

As much as the teachers were taught about prevention, part of McGaffic’s program focused on how teachers can help students through the emotional turmoil when another student completes suicide.

“It’s a huge challenge,” she said. “It’s a balance between honoring that memory but (not) really keeping it in the forefront too long that you impede their healing. It really is a tricky balance.”

For instance, what does a teacher do with the student’s empty desk?

McGaffic says the best solution is to simply rearrange the entire room.

“(There are) the questions you don’t ever see coming, and you’re facing it in a moment when you’re absolutely (emotionally) raw,” she said. “Kids leave a huge footprint in their school, and they touch each other. You could think of every little thing they might be in. Whatever they have touched is going to hurt other kids whenever it comes up again.”

Is that student’s name written in textbooks? Have the book rebound.

Did they play a sport? Consider what to do with the jersey and number.

One way to help with the healing of the school community, students and staff alike, is to focus the energy into positive measures.

“I think the best way to push forward through it is to organize something positive,” she said — perhaps a 5K race to raise money for suicide prevention organizations.

This is especially important since suicides can be “contagious” in a way, McGaffic said.

“There are kids who are going to feel responsible,” she said. “You have to be clear that the person who completed suicide is the one responsible.”

In those situations, teachers should be firm in pointing out the differences between the student who feels responsible or at-risk and the one who completed suicide, without shaming the student who died. This method can help separate the teenager from the suicidal thinking they may be experiencing, McGaffic said.

Hajek said the training aims to increase the sensitivity and responsiveness of teachers by trying to build a supportive community.