Latest / Community Spotlight / Transforming Tragedy into Hope
Transcript
- WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:02.850 <v 0>The Light FM presents Community Spotlight,</v> 2 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.810 a program designed to focus on what's important to you in your community. 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.140 Now here's Braxton with Today's Community Spotlight. 4 00:00:10.620 --> 00:00:12.780 <v 1>Hey, thanks for being here for Community Spotlight.</v> 5 00:00:12.780 --> 00:00:16.080 Want to let you know that this conversation may not be suitable for young 6 00:00:16.080 --> 00:00:19.260 children, so if you've got little ears listening, just be aware. 7 00:00:19.470 --> 00:00:22.920 Great conversation and an important one because today our guest, 8 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:24.600 Larry Lawrence from Christopher's Hope, 9 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.920 we're here to talk about suicide and suicide prevention. Larry, 10 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:29.820 thanks for being here. I'm. 11 00:00:29.820 --> 00:00:30.653 <v 2>Happy to be here.</v> 12 00:00:30.870 --> 00:00:32.940 <v 1>Yeah, glad that you're here. So, Larry, tell me this,</v> 13 00:00:33.300 --> 00:00:37.080 what is Christopher's hope for those who are unaware, and more importantly, 14 00:00:37.080 --> 00:00:38.040 why do you do what you do? 15 00:00:39.180 --> 00:00:40.860 <v 2>Yes, we of course,</v> 16 00:00:40.860 --> 00:00:44.430 lost our son Christopher to suicide in 2019. 17 00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:46.080 Since that time, 18 00:00:46.080 --> 00:00:51.060 we felt God pushing us to do what we can to 19 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:54.780 help prevent suicide and to prevent parents from experiencing what we went 20 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:57.240 through. And so we came across Hope Squad. 21 00:00:57.630 --> 00:01:00.330 Hope Squad is a program based out of Provo, Utah. 22 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:05.190 It's a peer to peer suicide prevention program for 23 00:01:05.190 --> 00:01:10.170 schools and students nominate students to be on the Hope 24 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:14.760 Squad who are kind, caring, good listeners, and don't bully other kids. We have, 25 00:01:15.210 --> 00:01:16.620 since we began, 26 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.940 we have helped to sponsor 20 Hope Squads in South Carolina, 27 00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:23.160 in Greenville, Spartanburg, Cherokee Counties. 28 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:26.220 And we're excited about what God's doing. 29 00:01:27.660 --> 00:01:32.520 We'd like to start a lot more hope squads across North and South Carolina. 30 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.570 And since we began, 31 00:01:36.580 --> 00:01:41.010 I've become what's called a Master trainer with Hope Squad. In other words, 32 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:45.930 I can train the advisors in the schools to oversee their Hope 33 00:01:45.940 --> 00:01:49.530 squad. And so I've done that probably 20, 34 00:01:49.530 --> 00:01:53.910 30 times and trained advisors for schools. 35 00:01:54.270 --> 00:01:55.830 <v 1>So tell me, what is a HOPE Squad?</v> 36 00:01:56.160 --> 00:01:58.530 <v 2>A Hope Squad is a group of students in a school.</v> 37 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:00.390 They're nominated by their peers. 38 00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:04.230 They wear a T-shirt that says Hope Squad on it. 39 00:02:05.250 --> 00:02:10.020 They are trained to look for signs and listen for signs of 40 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:14.910 students being at risk for self-harm or suicide. 41 00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:19.200 We are in elementary, middle school, and high schools. 42 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:21.270 In elementary schools. 43 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:26.640 The focus isn't as much on suicide as it is 44 00:02:26.650 --> 00:02:28.650 on friendship. Encouragement 45 00:02:31.470 --> 00:02:35.580 does take place in elementary schools for sure, and then middle and high school. 46 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:41.310 It's those things plus more attention toward suicide because suicide 47 00:02:41.310 --> 00:02:45.450 is such a, like you said, it's like a pandemic in our country. 48 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:49.830 5,400 teens attempt suicide every single day, 49 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:55.440 and one in 10 people have thoughts of suicide in our country every day. 50 00:02:55.950 --> 00:02:57.480 And so it's a real thing, 51 00:02:57.480 --> 00:03:02.290 and we are doing everything we can to help prevent youth suicide. 52 00:03:02.890 --> 00:03:05.230 <v 1>What does that look like? So Hope Squad,</v> 53 00:03:05.230 --> 00:03:09.670 you've got some designated students that'll do those things, 54 00:03:09.670 --> 00:03:14.260 but how does the training work? Does this happen at the school? 55 00:03:14.260 --> 00:03:15.160 Talk me through that. 56 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:18.910 <v 2>Sure. Yeah. Hope Squad has a curriculum,</v> 57 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:22.480 and for elementary it's three years, 58 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:27.700 middle school and high school. Middle school is three years also. 59 00:03:27.700 --> 00:03:29.290 And then high school is four years. 60 00:03:30.190 --> 00:03:32.860 The advisors are trained to teach the curriculum, 61 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:35.830 so students usually meet once a week. 62 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:40.660 They can meet any day as a class or after school. Before school, 63 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:43.300 they meet, they wear their T-shirt once a week. 64 00:03:43.630 --> 00:03:48.190 They go through this curriculum that teaches them to spot these signs that a 65 00:03:48.190 --> 00:03:51.430 student may be at risk. They're not trained to be counselors. 66 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:55.450 They don't try to make them into intermediaries 67 00:03:55.450 --> 00:04:00.280 where their mental health's at risk because they're carrying the burdens of 68 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:01.113 other students. 69 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.680 <v 1>Especially at that young of an age.</v> 70 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:07.300 <v 2>So they're just trained to listen, watch, care for students,</v> 71 00:04:07.570 --> 00:04:12.070 then report anything they see or hear to the advisor or 72 00:04:12.790 --> 00:04:15.070 a trusted adult. And so 73 00:04:16.660 --> 00:04:19.540 they're trained to take care of themselves with their mental health. 74 00:04:20.050 --> 00:04:23.950 They're trained to just be friends with people. 75 00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:29.140 They're trained to just look for those signs. And then once a week, 76 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:33.430 each school will have what's called a HOPE Week. And each day of that week, 77 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.370 they will do things that emphasize mental health. 78 00:04:36.880 --> 00:04:37.780 <v 1>Once a year.</v> 79 00:04:37.900 --> 00:04:38.500 <v 2>Once.</v> 80 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:39.520 <v 1>Or once a week.</v> 81 00:04:39.700 --> 00:04:42.400 <v 2>I'm sorry, one week out of the school.</v> 82 00:04:42.460 --> 00:04:45.370 <v 1>Okay. One week. There we go. I was like, that doesn't add up there.</v> 83 00:04:45.380 --> 00:04:47.770 I'm not good at math. But that one wasn't math. And so That's true. 84 00:04:47.770 --> 00:04:48.640 Just want to clarify. Good. 85 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:51.430 <v 2>That's true. That was not clear. Yeah. One week, week of the year,</v> 86 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:56.140 they have what's called Hope Week. And during that week, every day of that week, 87 00:04:56.170 --> 00:05:00.940 they will do something emphasizing friendship, kindness, 88 00:05:01.390 --> 00:05:05.890 good mental health, and just promote Hope Squad through that whole week. 89 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:10.690 <v 1>Yeah. Alright. So one in 10 is a staggering number,</v> 90 00:05:10.690 --> 00:05:12.490 but that number's growing. 91 00:05:12.910 --> 00:05:17.890 <v 2>Right? Yes, yes. Since you remember,</v> 92 00:05:17.900 --> 00:05:20.650 of course, the Covid year since then, 93 00:05:20.650 --> 00:05:24.670 there has been a 57% increase in 94 00:05:25.330 --> 00:05:28.090 mental health related emergencies for girls, 95 00:05:28.210 --> 00:05:33.160 teen girls over since 2020. 96 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:38.530 Just a huge increase, 7% increase in mental health related emergencies. 97 00:05:39.550 --> 00:05:42.400 Boys slightly less than that, but they've increased as well. 98 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:45.790 And then if you want to go back a little bit, 99 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:49.390 since Instagram came out in 2011, 100 00:05:51.280 --> 00:05:55.180 suicide rates have shot up from that point on till now. 101 00:05:56.900 --> 00:06:01.280 Social media is such a, it's a good and it's bad. 102 00:06:01.760 --> 00:06:06.620 Social media has had a huge effect on teens mental health since it came 103 00:06:06.630 --> 00:06:09.860 out. 2011 was Instagram, like I said, 104 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:13.940 but 71% of teens get on YouTube every day. 105 00:06:14.390 --> 00:06:19.340 58% of teens get on TikTok and 50% each 106 00:06:19.340 --> 00:06:20.810 on Instagram and Snapchat. 107 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:26.360 And approximately 93% of teens are on 108 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:28.970 some social media every single day. 109 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.580 And about 50% are on it constantly. Their Instagram's open, 110 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:40.640 Snapchat's open, tiktoks open on their phone constantly, 111 00:06:41.030 --> 00:06:43.130 and they're constantly getting feeds. 112 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:46.880 And social media can be good and bad, 113 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:49.970 but it's had a huge negative effect on teams. Yeah. 114 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:50.960 <v 1>Comparison factor.</v> 115 00:06:51.140 --> 00:06:51.770 <v 2>Yes.</v> 116 00:06:51.770 --> 00:06:54.890 <v 1>I'm not good enough for exactly right. Their life is better than mine,</v> 117 00:06:55.340 --> 00:06:56.960 easy thoughts that we all have. 118 00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:59.450 But when you're that young and haven't been taught properly, 119 00:07:00.050 --> 00:07:01.490 it's so easy to get there. 120 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:01.940 <v 2>It is.</v> 121 00:07:01.940 --> 00:07:06.470 And girls especially girls wake up in the morning and their hair is messed up 122 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:08.900 and no makeup got a pimple coming. 123 00:07:08.900 --> 00:07:13.850 And they look on Instagram or Snapchat and they see the perfect ideal 124 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:18.980 model, and they compare themselves and they begin to feel bad about themselves. 125 00:07:19.400 --> 00:07:23.690 And so it just creates a huge mental health problem for our teens. 126 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:26.120 <v 1>So Christopher's Hope and Hope Squad,</v> 127 00:07:26.130 --> 00:07:30.590 obviously this is suicide and mental health prevention for 128 00:07:30.590 --> 00:07:33.710 parents, catching it front on, 129 00:07:33.710 --> 00:07:35.660 or even not even catching it, 130 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:38.900 but trying to approach it before any of this happens, 131 00:07:38.900 --> 00:07:40.850 before your child's even on social media. 132 00:07:41.090 --> 00:07:45.140 What kind of advice do you give to parents through that kind of thing? 133 00:07:45.500 --> 00:07:48.050 <v 2>Well, first off,</v> 134 00:07:49.520 --> 00:07:52.850 they need to have a conversation with the student about social media. 135 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:59.300 It's harder to say, don't get on anything at all. But on the other hand, 136 00:08:00.380 --> 00:08:03.830 there needs to be some controls with social media limits. 137 00:08:03.830 --> 00:08:07.430 Maybe work out an hour a day or something, 138 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:12.410 and just whatever they can do to keep the student off that 139 00:08:12.410 --> 00:08:16.100 as much as they are on social media. And just 140 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:23.000 besides that, there's a lot of protective factors that families can do to help 141 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:28.160 create better atmosphere in the home for their students. 142 00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:32.510 Maybe mention a few things if they could just do these, that'll help. Besides, 143 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:36.020 of course, praying for your students, praying over them, praying with them. 144 00:08:36.410 --> 00:08:40.910 But just one meal a day is a family without electronic 145 00:08:40.910 --> 00:08:41.743 devices, 146 00:08:41.930 --> 00:08:46.430 if they can just sit down and have a meal together without 147 00:08:46.850 --> 00:08:50.240 someone being on their phone and laptop and TV blaring, 148 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:56.430 that's so rare these days. Just talking to students and families. 149 00:08:57.300 --> 00:09:00.450 So many of 'em just get their meal, go to the room, 150 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.710 turn on the TV in their room, or go to the room, get on their phone, 151 00:09:05.250 --> 00:09:06.210 and it's so sad. 152 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.850 Just if they just have a sense of connection to their family or 153 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:13.170 youth group, 154 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:18.510 being part of something fathers in the home is a big contributing 155 00:09:18.510 --> 00:09:22.470 factor. Just the breakdown of the family where there's no father in the home, 156 00:09:22.920 --> 00:09:26.250 so important. And then tranquility in the home. 157 00:09:27.270 --> 00:09:29.700 There's fighting, arguing constantly. 158 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:34.080 It just creates a bad mental health atmosphere, a sense of belonging. 159 00:09:34.920 --> 00:09:36.660 Being part of a church youth group is helpful. 160 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.680 Just positive self-esteem and coping skills, 161 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:44.250 and then access to mental health care. 162 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:49.590 And if they have any kind of physical or substance abuse disorders, 163 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.300 just help for those things. 164 00:09:51.780 --> 00:09:54.810 Those are some things that families can do to help 165 00:09:56.580 --> 00:09:58.470 be a protective factor against suicide. 166 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:02.820 <v 1>Maybe somebody is like you, Larry, and has lost a child,</v> 167 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:05.190 lost a loved one to suicide, 168 00:10:05.550 --> 00:10:10.020 and they're passionate about helping others prevent suicide. 169 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:14.790 Raise awareness. How does someone else start Hope Squad where they are? 170 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:18.270 How do they raise awareness with what they have in their community? 171 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:23.550 <v 2>To begin at Hope Squad, you can contact us,</v> 172 00:10:23.850 --> 00:10:26.460 Christopher Hope Foundation. We're on Facebook, 173 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:29.010 Christopher Hope Foundation or christopher hope.org. 174 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:34.650 They can email me at lar cLawrence@hotmail.com, 175 00:10:35.280 --> 00:10:37.740 or they can go to hope squad.com. 176 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:42.870 And there's a way to begin the process of a Hope Squad at their school. 177 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:48.030 The way we've done it is where we started Hope Squad in different 178 00:10:48.030 --> 00:10:51.570 schools. I usually meet with the principal of the school, 179 00:10:52.350 --> 00:10:56.670 and I will just lay out our program and 180 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.750 just maybe 15, 20 minutes share what we want to do, 181 00:11:00.930 --> 00:11:04.170 how Hope Squad can benefit their students. And then they say, 182 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:05.460 we want to go with Hope Squad. 183 00:11:05.880 --> 00:11:09.630 I will have a meeting with several faculty members, 184 00:11:09.630 --> 00:11:10.770 maybe their school counselors, 185 00:11:11.310 --> 00:11:15.900 and then we will just set it up where they have their 186 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.840 process in place, such as their nominations, 187 00:11:19.470 --> 00:11:23.520 and bring their Hope squad together, meet with the parents, 188 00:11:24.060 --> 00:11:27.480 and then the students begin going through a mental health curriculum that's 189 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:31.980 really, I would call it fun, and it's not boring, 190 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:35.760 and it's very interesting. And they go through that and learn to 191 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:42.120 take care of themselves as well as look out for other students and to spot those 192 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:44.760 signs that a student may be at risk. 193 00:11:45.390 --> 00:11:47.400 So that's kind of the process they would go through. 194 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:50.580 I'd love to be contacted by any school teacher, counselor, 195 00:11:50.910 --> 00:11:53.190 principal administrator, superintendent, 196 00:11:53.920 --> 00:11:58.720 and I would meet with them at any time to talk about Hope Squad. 197 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.150 <v 1>And it's christopher's hope.org.</v> 198 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:02.440 <v 2>Christopher's hope.org.</v> 199 00:12:02.530 --> 00:12:05.140 <v 1>Okay. Alright. Well, thank you so much, Larry,</v> 200 00:12:05.150 --> 00:12:07.750 for sharing for what you're doing in Upstate South Carolina. 201 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:11.650 Critically important in today's culture. So thank. 202 00:12:11.650 --> 00:12:12.760 <v 2>You. Thank you very much.</v> 203 00:12:13.510 --> 00:12:17.770 <v 1>Previous episodes of Community Spotlight available right now on your phone or on</v> 204 00:12:17.770 --> 00:12:22.030 the web@thelightfm.org or on the Light FM app. Just go to the podcast tab there. 205 00:12:22.630 --> 00:12:25.510 Also want to say a special thanks to today's sponsor, 206 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:29.860 Turner Business Appraisers and Matthews North Carolina for making Community 207 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:30.820 Spotlight possible. 208 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:33.850 <v 0>We hope you enjoyed today's community spotlight,</v> 209 00:12:33.850 --> 00:12:36.790 covering issues that matter to you in your community. 210 00:12:37.210 --> 00:12:39.700 If you have a suggestion for a future program, 211 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:43.630 just call 803 3 0 96 48. 212 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:47.710 That's 803 3 0 9 6 4 8. 213 00:12:48.160 --> 00:12:52.240 Be sure to join us next week for another community spotlight with Braxton on the 214 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.080 Light fm.