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Experts call on schools to do more to prevent teen suicide
News 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
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span>News 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.
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.
“One of my patients told me that her friend [a student] was sexually harassed by one of her teachers. But when the person told the school counselor about the incident, the counselor brushed her off,” Nova said.
While schools are supposed to be a safe space for children to learn life skills and problem solving skills, her research showed that schools had instead become a “negative stressor” for students and that many were even found to have inflicted self-harm at school.
“Even more concerning, some students claimed they had keys to the school rooftop in case they wanted to commit suicide,” Nova said.
In her research, Nova found that perceived burdensomeness and lack of belonging and feelings of loneliness and hopelessness were some of the main factors that caused students in Jakarta to have suicidal thoughts.
“Many students also said they felt disappointed because they thought their achievements fell short of their expectations. Other reasons include bullying and verbal and physical abuse,” she said.
Child and family psychologist Anna Surti Ariani said teens were especially susceptible to depression and self-harm.
“In teenagers, the part of the brain that processes emotions has already fully developed but the part of the brain that processes rational thinking has not, resulting in impulsive ways of thinking. Changes in their hormones is also a contributing factor to their unstable emotions,” Anna said.
Data from the World Health Organization showed that suicide was the second leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 last year.
Retno called on the Jakarta Education Agency to train teachers, school authorities and homeroom teachers to recognize students with suicidal thoughts. “The program should also aim at fostering teachers’ empathy toward troubled students.”
The KPAI also recommended that each school in Jakarta employ in-house psychologists to better support early detection and allow for early intervention.
“It’s not enough to have school counselors alone. Some mental illnesses can only be spotted and treated by professionals. Students who have bipolar disorder, for example, could appear very cheerful and normal on the outside,” Retno said.
However, the Jakarta Health Agency said youth suicide prevention was already part of the agency’s mental health program for schools across the city.
“We’ve implemented programs to improve students’ mental health through school health units [UKS], which provide life skills education, early detection and prevention of internet addiction, as well as psychoeducation,” agency head Widyastuti said. “We also provide training for teachers so they can be more aware of mental health issues impacting teenagers and children.”
She also cited several community health centers (Puskesmas) in Jakarta that had found innovative ways to try and curb youth suicide. Puskesmas Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta, for example, created a computer program called BRAAIN to assist early detection of mental illness in teenagers and children, while Puskesmas Kalideres in West Jakarta has opened an antiviolence clinic called Polania to deal with school bullying.
Addressing the issue of youth suicide is also a matter of providing help for those affected and those who witnessed the incidents, Retno said, adding that the KPAI had found the students and teachers at the East Jakarta school had been left shocked and shaken by the incident.
“We psychologically assessed 72 students after the incident and found that 29 of them needed therapy [to help them overcome their trauma],” Retno said.
“The bigger problem we face is how to prevent such incidents from triggering copycat suicides. Just recently, we received information that after the incident [in East Jakarta], another student tried to commit suicide in East Jakarta,” she said.
