School staff react to Idaho passing Jason Flatt Act

Idaho is the 20th state to pass the Jason Flatt Act. A new law wants to train school personnel to spot signs of depression and suicidal thoughts in kids.

“Requires school districts to train all of their staff with at least a minimum of, it looks to be about 2 hours of minimal training each year. On identification and warning signs and figuring out how to keep things safe,” says Jared Dotson, school counselor.

Staff at Sandcreek Middle School say they like the program.

“You just need to have eyes and ears wherever you can. And I think to have the whole staff and all of the teachers who are spending more time with kids, kids are spending more time at schools than they are at home during the week. And we need to be able to be a part of that team,” says Dotson.

“More hands on deck the better. The more people that are watching kids and things happen with our kids and changes and things that they’re doing and how they’re speaking or things they’re talking about, watching their social media,” says Dr. Yvonne Thurber, principal.

“As a teacher, if I’m trained, if I understand what to look for it’s going to help me to know hey, maybe I need to grab that kid and pull him aside and just say ‘hey how are things going, where are you at, are you okay,” says Shanon Blosch, teacher.

They say it’s a problem in our local schools and even the whole state.

“I know just in district 93 we’ve lost several students to suicide and it’s a horrible, horrible thing for everyone,” says Dr. Thurber.

“The 2017 statistic saying that basically a suicide is performed in Idaho every 24 hours and that’s more than we would ever want to happen,” says Dotson.

But they say with preventive methods that can change.

“So many kids who just struggle with things and if we don’t take a stand as teachers if we’re not aware, if we’re not paying attention were going to lose more and more students to suicide and I don’t want that. It’s too hard for me as a teacher when I have students, or even just a student in my school, whether I was their teacher or not, it’s too hard on us. We don’t just grieve the life that was lost, we grieve the life that could have been,” says Blosch.

School District 93 says they have also made steps to reach students. They started “Hope Squad,” a group of kids who provide support to their peers.