SOS Signs of Suicide is a school-based universal suicide prevention program designed for middle and high school students. The program is implemented in traditional classroom settings by trusted adults including classroom teachers and/or school-based mental health staff.

SOS combines video, classroom discussion, and a brief self-assessment to teach students how to identify warning signs of suicide and depression, while encouraging them to seek help through the ACT message: Acknowledge, Care, and Tell if they’re worried about themselves or a friend. Following the lesson, students complete an exit slip indicating whether they would like to talk to an adult. School staff follow up with students, collaborate with parents/caregivers, and provide resources as needed.
Intervention goals across student populations:

• Decrease suicide and suicide attempts by increasing student knowledge and adaptive attitudes about depression
• Encourage personal help-seeking and/or help-seeking on behalf of a friend
• Reduce the stigma of mental health concerns and acknowledge the importance of seeking help

SOS has been extensively researched and evaluated, with multiple studies demonstrating its effectiveness in reducing suicidal behaviors across varied populations of middle and high school students. Independent research has documented improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about depression and suicide, as well as shown a 64% reduction in self-reported suicide attempts following the program compared to control group students who had not received the program (Schilling et al. 2016).

SOS Signs of Suicide is used in thousands of schools around the country reaching a diverse population of 6th-12th graders. SOS is designed to be delivered in a single class period and requires no training to implement. In addition to the main content, refresher lessons are available for each grade throughout middle and high school to reinforce learning. SOS now also offers suicide prevention training for Higher Ed students, faculty, and staff as well as youth suicide prevention training for K-12 faculty and staff training.