ABOUT US

At the Teen Suicide Prevention Society, we know that when it comes to suicide, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly. Our mission is to help you break the silence in ways that prevent the need for suicide intervention programs.

We’re here because on August 3, 2019, my middle daughter Stephanie gave a 7-minute “Message That Matters” and shared that over 3,000 teens attempt to take their own lives every day. AND that’s just in the US.

Stephanie continued her talk by sharing the story of her first attempt 23 years before, when she was only 14.

I’d lived through it with her, but outside of her getting professional help, we never really talked about it. I didn’t want to, I was too afraid of putting the idea back in her head. Have you ever worried about that?

Here’s good news, it’s a myth. You can’t put the idea in someone’s head without them having some thoughts already there for the idea to stick to.

When Stephanie continued her talk, saying that she still struggles with suicidal thoughts, I realized that the silence caused by the “myth” could have cost me my daughter. I got lucky; Stephanie is still alive.

Since COVID-19, teen suicide rates are on the rise. There’s a growing need for more and more intervention programs for those struggling with depression, anxiety, ptsd, and suicidal thinking.

Unfortunately, the entrance requirement for these programs is very steep. Intervention-focused programs only kick in after an attempt, a mental health diagnosis, or an “at-risk” determination.

There are more and more peer-to-peer intervention programs being rolled out in schools
across the country. As grateful as we are for them, we’ve learned that more often than we like to admit, the first sign that a kid’s in trouble is often an attempt.

That’s why we’ve focused on getting mental wellness and emotional resilience tools into the hands of teens before we think they need them. . . before they are struggling.

We provide scripts and guides for having the “Talks that Save Lives” so that no one needs to worry about what to say.

Our vision is 20,000 “Talks that Save Lives” happening in schools, communities, and homes by the end of 2025 because we never want you to say, and we never want to hear again, the saddest five words in the English language:

“We didn’t see it coming.”

In service to our mission to end the need for suicide intervention programs, we give presentations and train “advocates for living.”

We won’t quit until suicide is a thing of the past.

Jackie Simmons
Director and co-founder of the Teen Suicide Prevention Society