What parents need to ask if a child is on suicide watch

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What parents need to ask if a child is on suicide watch

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If your child is experiencing thoughts of suicide, or even if you suspect that they are experiencing thoughts of suicide, take it seriously - No 1 - it's important. People don't make those kinds of idle threats, and if they do, you can deal with that. What you really need to do is try to get help. It's important to know that if you are finding help, you have to ask the critical questions. I had a son who died by suicide, while on suicide-watch in a hospital, and we thought that we were doing everything we could to keep him safe. What we didn't understand is that deaths by suicide; especially for young people in this country; they happen in hospitals, they happen in treatment facilities and they happen in detention centers. When you think that you're getting safety, you need to ask the question, 'What do they mean by keeping my child safe?' Do they mean that they are going to check on him periodically? Or do they mean that they are going to be right there, with their eyes on them and that they are going to remove all those things that could potentially cause harm, and be there until the crisis ends.

View Shannon Crossbear's video on What parents need to ask if a child is on suicide watch...

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Shannon Crossbear

Native American Elder

Shannon CrossBear is a beautiful, powerful, spiritual Ojibwe and Irish woman. Shannon is an enrolled member of Fort William First Nation of the Lake Superior Ojibwe, which is located in Ontario, Canada.  She has lived on the shores of Lake Superior for the majority of her life and currently resides within the boundaries of the United States in Hovland, Minnesota. Wabagoness, her given name in Ojibwemoin, is a daughter, sister, mother and grandmother. Shannon has been a story teller for an audience of relatives and friends for many years.  As a columnist for the Cook Country News Herald she wrote over 200 hundred article under the heading Mino- Biimadizawin (the good path/life).Her purpose is to demonstrate and promote gentle healing. She expresses her commitment to healing through her business Strongheart Resource Development. Conditions within Ms. CrossBear’s family of origin and community cement her commitment to improving conditions for children, their families and communities.

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Transcription: 
If your child is experiencing thoughts of suicide, or even if you suspect that they are experiencing thoughts of suicide, take it seriously - No 1 - it's important. People don't make those kinds of idle threats, and if they do, you can deal with that. What you really need to do is try to get help. It's important to know that if you are finding help, you have to ask the critical questions. I had a son who died by suicide, while on suicide-watch in a hospital, and we thought that we were doing everything we could to keep him safe. What we didn't understand is that deaths by suicide; especially for young people in this country; they happen in hospitals, they happen in treatment facilities and they happen in detention centers. When you think that you're getting safety, you need to ask the question, 'What do they mean by keeping my child safe?' Do they mean that they are going to check on him periodically? Or do they mean that they are going to be right there, with their eyes on them and that they are going to remove all those things that could potentially cause harm, and be there until the crisis ends.