Recovery is one of the five National Preparedness System mission areas and is a critical component of an education agency's preparedness. In the context of school emergency management planning, recovery refers to the capabilities necessary to assist schools affected by an event or emergency in restoring the learning environment. Recovery is also…

Schools have an important role to play in adolescent suicide prevention. This article describes universal screenings for depression and suicidality as one component of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program in middle and high schools following the suicide death of a student in the past few years. Of the students screened (N = 7,429), 11.0 percent of…

The author argues that English teachers are in a unique position to respond to death through writing, reading, and speaking. She describes four experiences and offers specific, language-based responses guided by experience and literature.

All school leaders at some point will find themselves confronted by the need to shepherd their school communities through emotionally draining experiences. Death requires school leaders to act with compassion, care, and awareness that they are modeling for young people how to grieve. Few better examples of servant leadership exist. Communication…

Edwin S. Shneidman (DOB: 1918-05-13; DOD: 2009-05-15) is a father of contemporary suicidology. His work reflects the intensive study of lives lived and deaths, especially suicides, and is the mirror to his mind. His contributions can be represented by five categories: psychological assessment, logic, Melville and Murray, suicide, and death. His…

To fully grieve a parent's death, a young child needs to come to terms internally with the loss. The author describes this process in a toddler whose mother committed suicide. In therapy, the child formed a relationship with a stone statue and communicated her need to be found and protected. Drawing on the notion of "potential space," an…

This article considers the stigmatized deaths in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978, in which more than 900 Americans died of mass murder and suicide, and how this led to the disenfranchisement of grief. It examines the rituals of exclusion by which bodies were handled and describes the experiences of Jonestown survivors. It then looks at the ways in…

Proponents and opponents of euthanasia have argued passionately about whether it should be legalized. In Australia in the mid-1990s, following the world's first legal euthanasia deaths, Dr. Philip Nitschke initiated a different approach: a search for do-it-yourself technological means of dying with dignity. The Australian government has opposed…

Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death among college students in the United States. This complex issue on college campuses is often overlooked, and this book combines the efforts from several leaders in the field of suicidology in an attempt to grasp a better understanding of college student suicide. The book is divided into four…

Youth suicide is one of the most serious preventable health problems in the United States. It is the third leading cause of death among adolescents. According to a recent national survey of students in grades 9-12, nearly 15% of respondents had seriously considered suicide and 7% actually had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months. Moreover,…

The effect of any death spreads out to many people. Deaths that occur in the workplace need to be handled with particular care given that the bereaved family as well as work colleagues will have been affected. Death by suicide or situations when an employee becomes suicidal can challenge even the most experienced manager. This article aims to…

In January, four juniors died in an automobile accident; in February a member of the previous year's graduating class committed suicide; in March a member of the faculty died suddenly; and a crazed gunman killed three current and one former student. Spring 1999 was a season of sadness. Several Penncrest faculty meetings were devoted to reviewing…

This brief paper advances the concept of a "good death," outlines ten specific criteria for a good death, and proposes a simple golden rule for optimal dying. (Contains 1 table.)

Since the publication of the O'Carroll et al. (1996) nomenclature for suicidology, there have been a number of published letters and articles, as well as an active e-mail dialogue, in response to, and elaborating upon, this effort to establish a standard nomenclature for suicidology. This new nomenclature has been presented on a number of…

The FDA committees and the manufacturers of the most common ADHD drugs have recently modified the prescription information to include warnings on sudden death, serious cardiovascular events, and suicidal ideation. The purpose of this article was to document the association between traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and ADHD and to clarify the…