by Krystal Paco
Guam - It may be a day to celebrate love, but students at Simon Sanchez High School are going above and beyond that with their "Sharks Suicide Awareness Week: Love Others, Love Yourself" campaign. According to Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse statistics, one person on Guam commits suicide every two weeks...60% of which are under the age of 30 years old. Statistics also show that males are more inclined to commit suicide.
It became evident to Sanchez High teacher Trisha Blas that her students were concerned about suicide. To apply it to her math classes, Blas presented them local suicide statistics, which inspired their service learning project. 11th grader Kaeshier Fernandez admits that although he doesn't know anyone who has ever committed suicide, he wanted to take action and is one of 23 students who participated in applied suicide intervention skills training, or assist for short and safe talk, both programs that prepare participants with skills to address those with thoughts of suicide.
DMHSS ASIST trainer Audrey Topasna says proactive students like Fernandez help create a suicide safer community, adding, "We're really excited that these students have come forth wanting to be trained in assist because our numbers indicate that students are more likely to turn to their peers in talking about suicide."
Alongside training, Fernandez says his class will be spreading awareness all week long, with stickers, posters, t-shirts, performances, and guest speakers to talk on the subject. Fernandez says the project's name promotes action amongst his peers. "That name came about because it includes Valentine's Day within the week. We say 'love others and love yourself' to not only promote caring about everyone around you, but to also care about yourself, to promote self-worth and self-worth and higher self-esteem," he explained.
Blas says that although service learning was intended for high school freshmen, her upperclassmen were more than willing to reach out to the community. "None of my students are freshmen," she said. "I felt that service learning does not need to be a requirement so I took this opportunity with my students. They don't care that its not a requirement they enjoy the opportunities they're given the people they meet the networks they create."
"It just provides a warm feeling that you really can't find anywhere else so when the opportunity came to do a really good project started coming up and this is why I really wanted to take this class project to another level," she added.
The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse advises that everyone is at risk of suicide, especially after losing a loved one or feeling loneliness. ASIST and SafeTalk are offered to the community for free and prepare individuals to be ready, willing, and able to assist someone who is at risk of suicide.
For more information on how to register, visit PeaceGuam.org.
