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Experts call on Jakarta’s schools to do more to prevent teen suicide
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Suicide prevention (Shutterstock/-)
N
ews of a tragic incident at a high school in Cibubur, East Jakarta, in January has brought the issue of teen suicide into the spotlight — a topic rarely discussed by the public or in schools.
A student reportedly jumped from the fourth floor of the school building in an apparent suicide attempt and was immediately rushed to Kramat Jati Hospital to receive medical treatment, but passed away two days later.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) commissioner Retno Listyarti said it was not the first case of reported student suicide in Jakarta, citing a suspected suicide at a high school in Pademangan, North Jakarta, around three months earlier.
A 2018 study by Nova Riyanti Yusuf from the Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations (AFPA) found that 5 percent of high school students in Jakarta had suicidal thoughts, and that 3 percent had attempted to commit suicide.
"It's a very serious problem that needs to be solved immediately. We need to take action to reduce the teen suicide rate," Retno said.
There is a lack of early detection and early intervention for the prevention of youth suicide within schools, as well as a lack of support systems for students to discuss their problems and seek the help they need, according to experts.
Nova said school counselors should be at the forefront of preventing student suicide. However, in reality, most school counselors only focus on advising students about their future careers rather than dealing with mental health.
