50,000 lives were taken in the year 2022 due to suicide. 50,000 families lost someone to suicide. 50,000 people lost a friend to suicide in 2022, according to the Center for Disease Control. That is one person every 11 minutes.
There is hope. Barnstable High School students, teachers, staff members, and coaches are standing up to this issue by bringing a new program to BHS. The Hope Squad, an international organization, raises awareness about suicide and helps those who are suicidal through peer intervention.
“The goal is to compile Hope Squad leaders to raise awareness about mental health and create a support system and network among BHS students who may need it,” said wellness teacher Meghan Fligg, a BHS Hope Squad advisor.
A survey was put out in the fall so that students could nominate others to be in Hope Squad. The 40 names that appeared the most were then brought to the counselors at BHS to determine if they would be the right fit. After these steps, a Hope Squad was formed according to Meghan Fligg.
Aimee Butterfield, a BHS art teacher who is one of the Hope Squad organizers; said the goal of Hope Squad is, “To create a community of students at Barnstable… be there to help people struggling with mental health, and to create a safe space to talk about this issue.”
The Hope Squad organization is in over 1,600 schools throughout the US, Canada, Ghana and South Korea. It was started at a school in Utah where suicide was described as a silent killer. At Provo City School District in Utah, there was an average of one to two suicides per year. The Hope Squad was formed there to help. Forty students were trained to identify warnings of suicide in their peers.
At Timpview High School in Utah, there were threats, attempts and suicides every year totalling more suicides than any other school in the district. For almost a decade after the Hope Squad was implemented, there were zero suicides at the school, according to the organization’s website.
“Hope Squad members will be trained in how to follow a referral system to help any student in BHS to access support in or out of school,” said Fligg. Starting soon, every Wednesday Hope Squad members, students and teachers, will wear Hope Squad clothes to let everyone know who is in Hope Squad. This will allow students to know who to reach out to, she added.
