ARIZONA: Arizona High Schools Add Suicide Prevention Numbers to ID Badges
August 25, 2017
Four Phoenix area school districts and several charter schools now display the phone number for Teen Lifeline on the back of their high school ID badges. Teen Lifeline is a statewide crisis services hotline that offers resources for adolescents who are struggling with a variety of challenges, including suicide, physical or sexual abuse, and gender or sexuality. The hotline also provides referrals to mental health professionals if needed. Starting at a single Phoenix high school in 2015, inclusion of the Lifeline on ID badges has since spread to schools across the area in an effort to make crisis services more accessible to students. Former Pinnacle High School Principal Troy Bales said, “Since our students are required to visibly wear their student ID on a breakaway lanyard, adding, ‘You’re Not Alone’ and the Teen Lifeline phone number to the back of every student ID was a simple and symbolic way to put these services in our students’ hands every day.”
Spark Extra! Visit the Teen Lifeline website.