BUFFALO, NY (WKBW — An effort is underway to bring suicide prevention directly into the hands of college students.
According to experts, suicide is the second leading cause of death for the college student population.
But a bill sitting on Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk could offer a new tool for students. It’s called the Student Lifeline Act and would require a national suicide prevention number on the back of all college IDs across the state,
“Any tools we can put in our toolbox to help our youth is a great tool,” declared Christine Ziemba, director of special projects, Spectrum Health.
If the governor signs the act into law, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, 988, will be placed on the back of student college ID cards starting next July of 2025. Bills were passed by both the New York State Senate and Assembly, targeting higher education to reach students 18 to 24.
Ziemba told me placing 988 student IDs could save lives.
“If it's right there, the likelihood of them using it increases,” Ziemba explained.
“So that significance of that 988 suicide hotline would really make a difference?” I asked.
“And it's a text line too, so there's a couple of parts of 988 — it's a telephone line, it's a text line and it has a very robust website,” replied Ziemba.
One of the major supporters of the bill is State Senator Samra Brouk, who represents Monroe County. Her office issued this statement:
“We know that having a person to talk to during a moment of crisis can be the difference between life and death when someone is having thoughts of suicide. It is with deep appreciation for the work that 988 call center operators are doing to respond via phone and text to community members in need that Assembly and Senate both passed the Student Lifeline legislation and will require colleges and universities in New York to establish education campaigns about the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. Having the 988 resource appear on student ID cards puts resources directly in the hands of students. We know that youth mental health is important to Governor Kathy Hochul, and she is convening her own youth mental health roundtables. We are confident that by the end of this year, we will be signing this bill into law to help all college students across New York."
While the bill only targets college-aged students for now, I did reach out to one local school leader who tells me it could be a benefit to call school kids.
"Printing that on a student ID card, I think is a very good idea, low cost, but the savings could be astronomical,” remarked Mark Laurrie, superintendent, Niagara Falls City School District.
Laurrie tells me he would implement it if the state were to approve it for high school and middle school students.
“I would encourage this to become a part of a high school student's ID repertoire. I don't think we need legislation to do it. I think we should do it just because it's a good practice,” responded Laurrie.
Laurrie has already implemented the Sandy Hook Promise Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, which features a phone number and an app.
“The Sandy Hook Promise is an anonymous phone number that we have trained all of our seven through 12th graders on, and if they feel that they are feeling bad about themselves, considering suicide, maybe bullying, this is a number that can be called, and it's anonymous, and then calls are received immediately,” explained Laurrie.
Laurrie shared with me that three months after it was put into place, he was seeing results. 15-calls were made by students, 12 were non-life-threatening, but others were very serious.
“And three of those were categorized as potentially lifesaving calls. Two of them, two of the three, involved a suicide,” noted Laurrie. “In one of the cases, it was a student who was reporting on an elementary student who he had heard was having some conversation about suicide, so I think it's effective. I think we need to keep educating kids.”
Laurrie explained that the system they are using is divided into categories:
- Non-threatening calls that can wait by eight hours, then an administrator is called to say there may be some bullying going on and should be investigated
- Life-threatening calls if someone is contemplating suicide or maybe heard a friend talk about suicide, where they can take immediate action
Ziemba noted that unfortunately, suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24, and that suicide is also affecting even younger children.
“Suicide and suicide attempts are becoming are starting to affect our younger population, which is alarming and because it's the second leading cause of death, that even raises the alarm that much higher,” noted Ziemba.
