How to Talk to Kids about Suicide Risk and Prevention
Mini Synopsis:
In this episode, Dr. Robyn Silverman talks with Professor Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW, one of the country’s leading experts on youth suicide, about how parents and educators can talk to children and teens about suicide in a way that is honest, compassionate, and potentially life-saving. Together they explore the risk factors and protective factors for youth suicide, why asking about suicidal thoughts does not plant the idea, what to say and what not to say when a child expresses hopelessness or talks about ending their life, how to be a trusted adult, and why this conversation — as uncomfortable as it is — is one of the most important ones we can have.
Introduction:
Suicide is one of the topics most parents and educators dread bringing up — not because they don’t care, but because they are terrified of saying the wrong thing. What if asking the question gives a child the idea? What if talking about it makes it worse? What if I say something that pushes them further away instead of closer? These fears are understandable. But the research is unambiguous: talking about suicide does not increase risk. Staying silent does. Today we are going to talk about how to have this conversation — with courage, with care, and with the kind of honest, practical language that actually helps because the children and teens in our lives deserve adults who are willing to go there.
