September is Suicide Prevention Month. Suicide is a hard topic to talk about because it is so real, but it is important that we talk about the hard things to prevent them from happening. If you or someone you know it struggling with suicidal thoughts call 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline or talk to your counselor.
Last Friday, September 20th, the WKHS Counselors put on the Because of You campaign in the commons during lunch periods. In this campaign, they invited students and faculty to write on white boards their, “because of you moments”, which are big or small moments where someone has had a big impact on your life.
The WKHS Counselors got the idea based for the campaign off of the video “The Honest Yearbook” posted by Brand Films Awards New York. In the video they bring in a couple high school students and show them a video of their friends telling them things that they have done to impact their lives. They show them the because of you moments in their friends lives.
Suicide Prevention is extremely important and impactful and the counselors and everyone at WKHS wants all students to know how something as small as saying “hi” to someone in the hallway can have a giant impact on someone’s day, year, or even someone’s life.
Mrs. Himmel, a Counselor at WKHS puts it this way, “building a culture of connection is one way to combat suicide, and establishing relationships here in the building is a great way to start.”
Writing these messages on those whiteboards allowed for students to share with their friends and family and just others in their lives that the things they do and the words they say do really have an impact on them.
“We want our students to know, that because of you, you can change someone’s day. Because of you, you can change someone’s year, and because of you, you can even change someone’s life.” Himmel told us.
The counselors, the rest of the WKHS Staff, and everyone in the building knows that every single person in the school matters and they belong here. While life may get hard, there are always more reasons to stay.
They want people to know that everything you do can have a lasting impact on someone, so do not diminish the role that you can play in someone’s story.
If you didn’t have a chance to write on a whiteboard and take a picture last week, that doesn’t mean that you still can’t tell those people those because of you moments they’ve had on you. Tell them, I can guarantee you won’t regret it.
Little acts of kindness often go unnoticed, but do not doubt the way that your words can have an impact on someone’s life, because of you, you can change everything for someone.
