“Be There, Help Prepare”: Teens create a suicide prevention public service announcement

Our son is ending his two-week program at the Rady Children’s Hospital and UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Summer Medical Academy for high-school students interested in healthcare as a career. It has been a wonderful experience for him — and all of us in fact. We joined him in The Village student dorms (as required for teens), so he had a chance to explore the UCSD campus. My time was a little shorter because of work.

The program was an in-depth immersion into the world of healthcare and medicine. Over 100 faculty led lectures and interactive discussions, hands-on skills clinics, career panels, team building, and group projects. It was remarkable what the teens were exposed to in just two weeks.

One of the projects was for each group in the program to create a video for a public service announcement aimed at preventing teen suicide, which is on the rise. “The tragedy of a young person dying because of overwhelming hopelessness or frustration is devastating to family, friends, and community,” as the hospital staff explains. “Learning more about factors that might lead an adolescent to suicide may help prevent further tragedies. Even though it’s not always preventable, it’s always a good idea to be informed and take action to help a troubled teenager.”

Here is the public service announce that our son and his group produced:

Author: jeffpelline

Jeff Pelline is a veteran editor and award-winning journalist - in print and online. He is publisher of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine and its website SierraCulture.com. Jeff covered business and technology for The San Francisco Chronicle for 12 years, and he was a founding editor and Editor of CNET News for eight years, among other positions. Jeff has a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a master's from Northwestern University. His hobbies include sailing, swimming, and trout fishing in the Sierra. View all posts by jeffpelline