Suicide rates in the United States have been on the rise and children are not immune to these tragic statistics. This leaves parents wondering how to recognize when a child might need help and how to protect them.
FOX’s Lisa Brady has part one on suicide prevention in this week’s FOX on Family:
A viral challenge on social media is suspected of leading children to kill themselves. So how do you know if your child is vulnerable, especially if they say everything’s alright?:
(Martin): “Kids hate to be asked ‘are you okay or is everything okay.’ They hate that.”
Licensed professional counselor and mother-of-three Rhonda Martin suggests open ended questions:
(Martin): “Tell me about your day, what was the greatest part of today, what was the challenge today; let’s talk about that and come up with some options.”
She says it’s easier to sense a change, if there’s a daily conversation, starting as young as five years old:
(Martin): “Talking to your child for five minutes every day, uninterrupted, without your device, without their device where you are doing nothing but eye contact, wrists open leaning forward, talking.”
Laying the groundwork to keep sharing:
(Martin): “When there are conversations at school, a certain person might have had suicidal thoughts and others are bringing that up and discussing it. And your child will be so used to talking to you because that’s what you’ve done every day; they know they get their five minutes no matter what happens.”
Next week: More than one reason for living.
With FOX on Family, I’m Lisa Brady.
