Attorney General launches app to address teen suicide
Northeast Mississippi Daily JournalMar 15, 2019
"It is our middle school students right now who are most at risk because they are at an age where they are very impressionable, and a majority of them are not communicating, not only with their friends but also their families," said
Suicides in
According to the
Tobias said youths today will not go into a
The app breaks out situations into sections and describes how a person might feel, think or experience a specific scenario, such as depression or domestic violence. It also provides a list of phone numbers directly linked so users can call for help from the app by scrolling through a list of local and national resources.
"What we found is that the majority of students and young adults were not getting the help that they needed. Also, the majority of our kids are using their phones, and at this point, we said that we have to meet the children where they are," Tobias said.
Hood serves on the board of the
"Individuals today, especially our youth, many times feel more comfortable utilizing technology to find information and resources concerning issues that may arise in their lives," Flatt said in an email.
"SAV is a project that utilizes this comfortable platform to provide information, tools and links to resources that hopefully will help make their lives better and address issues that could be life threatening if left unaddressed."
Flatt said it took four months to design and code the app, which utilizes resources and input from several state organizations such as the
The app is free and is available on both iPhone and Android devices.
Suicide warning signs include threats of suicide, depression, anger or increased irritability, lack of interest, a sudden increase or decrease in appetite, sudden changes in appearance, dwindling academic performance, preoccupation with death and suicide, previous attempts at suicide and making final arrangements.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255 or visit their website at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
cristina.carreon@journalinc.com Twitter @Cris_carreon90
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