Jones County is concluding its third year of a five-year grant to bring attention to the issue of the number of suicides that occur in the county.
Understandably the topic is not easily discussed, which is the purpose of the Jones County Suicide Prevention Coalition and QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training. The training helps identify the warning signs of suicide and how to respond.
Jones County High School lost two 17-year-old students this year. Both were thought to have been deaths by suicide when first reported, but it is now believed one may have been accidental.
The coalition meets in the JCHS Community Room, usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month. The meetings are led by staff members of Augusta University Medical College. Dr. Martha Tingen oversees the programs.
Richmond County is also struggling with a high suicide rate and Augusta University applied for and received a grant from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities to help both counties reduce those numbers.
Jones County’s Suicide Prevention Coordinator is Joy Carr with Jones County Family Connection. Statistics show the biggest risk for death by suicide is students ages 15-19 and white males ages 45-54.
Giulianna Larosa opened the May 28 program and talked about the Partners in Prevention Program efforts at Gray Station Middle School and JCHS. She said the anti-vaping and anti- underage drinking campaigns consist of positive posters showing that most students do neither, in addition to Catch My Breath and Project Alert programs.
Larosa said posters were also planned for Clifton Ridge Middle School.
Program assistant Ashley Prager said Jones County had zero suicides in April. She went over the Georgia Health Survey presented at the April meeting that indicated 154 students said they considered suicide during the school year. Their top reasons were listed as family issues, drugs or alcohol, problems with friends and schoolwork demands.
The program assistant said JCHS will have a new mental health pathway during the next school year. Carr said she met with the instructor for the new pathway, and QPR training would be part of the curriculum.
The coordinator also talked about a Save Our Students program that will be presented June 29 at First Baptist Church from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The public is invited, but registration is required.
Carr said registration is available at the website, firstbaptistgray.org.
Prager said the My Ascension documentary is available to interested organizations. The documentary is about a young girl, Emma Benoit, who was left paralyzed after a failed attempt to take her own life. A screening of the documentary was held at the W.E. Knox Center the evening of May 28.
Anyone interested in arranging a screening of the documentary or hosting a QPR training can contact Carr at jonescountyfamilyconnec-tion@ gmail.com.
