Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides discusses preventive measures related to youth/post-secondary institutions and media
******************************************************************************************
The Committee set up five working groups in April this year to enable focused discussions on strategies in different areas for preventing student suicides. The working groups on youth/post-secondary institutions and media held their meetings on July 18 and 22 respectively to explore preventive measures in the respective areas. The two working groups reported their recommendations at the Committee's meeting today.
The working group on youth/post-secondary institutions was led by conveners Professor Alvin Leung and Ms Althea Suen. To support students' mental well-being, members proposed that post-secondary institutions administer mental health screening to new students through effective means such as orientation programmes, email or social media and equip university personnel such as faculty teaching staff, academic advisors/mentors and wardens with gatekeeper training. Publicity and easy access such as 24-hour hotlines to professional counselling services are vital in providing timely mental health first-aid services to students in need. Other recommendations including introducing a reading week for students to enjoy rest and relaxation were also suggested.
Led by conveners Mr Lau Ming-wai and Ms Hsu Siu-man, the working group on media proposed promoting public education on mental health through social media such as using social media platforms to disseminate information on mental health promotion campaigns, and collaborating with social media in organising mental health promotion activities. It was suggested that social media platforms continue to work with mental health professionals to develop online suicide prevention tools, while counselling professionals would provide training for peers and teachers on how to respond to students seeking help online. Meanwhile, the need for the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention to continue to engage media professionals and journalism students in promoting ethical principles and practices for reporting suicide cases was stressed.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Professor Paul Yip, said, "Members of the Committee discussed thoroughly the recommendations of the youth/post-secondary institutions and media working groups at the meeting. Their recommendations are practicable and can help to complete the Committee's proposed suicide prevention measures. The Committee will compile the recommendations submitted by the five working groups and submit the full report to the Secretary for Education in October."
Ends/Friday, August 19, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:05
Issued at HKT 18:05
NNNN