How Are Students With Thoughts of Suicide Identified?

Several district initiatives exist to identify students with thoughts of suicide, provide them with support, and improve outcomes.

Signs of Suicide (SOS) Lesson

The SOS lesson is an Evidence-Based Practice developed by MindWise that is provided to students grades 7 through 10. The goal of the lesson is to encourage help-seeking behavior through the ACT technique: Acknowledge signs of suicide in a friend, show your friend that you Care, and Tell a trusted adult. The lesson contains videos of adolescents sharing their stories about their struggles and getting help. The lesson includes brief discussion items as well as an “exit ticket” that students complete at the end of the lesson. On this ticket students can request to talk with a trusted adult about their own challenges or the challenges of a friend.

Behavior Intervention Monitoring and Assessment System 2 (BIMAS2) Screen

The BIMAS2 screen is an online self-report survey developed by Edumetrisis that is provided to BSD students in grades 7 through 11. The BIMAS2 screen is a 34-question self-report that asks students about their perceptions about their own anxiety, depression, conduct problems, and self-harm. It also asked about their functioning in social situations, school, and thinking abilities. Students who report thoughts of self-harm automatically receive a secondary suicide risk screen using the district procedures (2145P Exhibit A & 2145P Exhibit B). The results of the BIMAS2 for your child are available upon request. Parents are contacted when concerns arise about safety.