What the Tech? Get crisis help by texting
By JAMIE TUCKER Consumer Technology Reporter
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, to bring awareness of the rising number of people taking their own lives and the resources available to help.
In a sign of our times, suicide among teenagers and children continues to rise. According to the American Psychological Association, more than 20% of teenagers say they have seriously considered suicide. It is now the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 15-24.
Those are alarming facts. Another fact of that generation is teenagers don’t actually like talking on the phone to anyone. Dialing the phone number of a suicide prevention hotline is out of the question for many teenagers and children.
But they do text.
They’re comfortable with texting and messaging. A non-profit organization aimed at reducing the number of teenage suicides is
meeting kids where they spend a lot of their time.
Crisis Text Line is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week free service where children and teenagers can connect with a licensed counselor over text messages. It’s as simple as sending a text to “home”, or 741-741.
A volunteer counselor will text back, usually within a couple of minutes. The counselor will stay with them for as long as the child or teenager will communicate.
Crisis Text Line has over 65,000 trained volunteer crisis counselors. When a text comes in, one of those counselors will respond.
It’s very private, and the number will not show up on a phone bill. No one will know you’ve reached out for help.
Teenagers can also contact crisis text line through a web chat window on a computer, or the “What’s App” messaging app.
Again, the number is 741-741, or ‘home’. Crisis Text Line is always looking for licensed counselors willing to volunteer their time. And if you’re a parent, youth minister, coach, or teacher, you can download flyers to put up in places where teenagers will see them.
It could be the one lifeline a teenager or child will grab onto.
