MADISON, Wis. — On For the Record this Sunday, a panel of experts joined host Naomi Kowles to discuss troubling results from the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey released this week in Wisconsin — with more youth seriously considering suicide than ever since 2003.
The survey is conducted and released every two years; the data from this survey comes from the fall of 2021 during the height of the pandemic. The problem, however, has started years earlier.
“It’s been trending the wrong direction since 2011,” Department of Public Instruction Abigail Swetz explained.
“If you can think of four LGBTQ students, imagine that two of them … have considered suicide, and at least one of them has attempted,” DPI educational consultant Molly Hermann said of the data.
Solutions won’t come overnight, but experts explained: It starts with the adults in the room.
“I really see a reflection of the adults in the world not behaving well,” Dr. Matt Doll of SSM Health’s Behavioral Health explained, referencing a climate for LGBTQ+ youth that has left many feeling targeted or marginalized for their identity.
“I also think about how that one supportive adult can make such a difference,” Swetz added. “Imagine if that whole community was that one supportive adult.”
Resources:
- If you are in crisis, call the 988 hotline for immediate help
- For parents struggling to know how to help their children, find a “Question, Persuade, Refer” training for knowing how to talk to depressed or suicidal youth
- SSM Health’s “Got your back” app, and other free apps that help teach emotional self-regulation skills
FTR: Key budget leaders sit down with political reporter Will Kenneally
Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) sat down with political reporter Will Kenneally this week to discuss their plans for writing the next biennial budget for the state, while sitting on a projected $6.6 billion surplus.
Sen. Roys is the newest addition to the powerful Joint Finance Committee, while Sen. Marklein will reprise his role as committee co-chair.
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