A Suicide Awareness and Prevention Forum will be held in the Fall Creek Valley Middle School auditorium on Monday, Nov. 3 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The forum is a collaboration between the MSD of Lawrence Township and Community Health Network and will be open to the public, free of charge. Guidance counselor and Department Co-Chair Shelia Allen explains why the township is having this forum.

“It’s really to help students and families be able to identify key items that might be of alarm if you’re looking at yourself or at your child. It’s about concern and awareness and making sure you know what to do if you’re seeing certain signs,” Allen said.

The forum will be split up into two, one-hour sessions. The first hour will be an information session and the second hour will be a question and answer opportunity. The information session will address the causes of teen suicide, signs to look for, what to do if one should see such signs presented, and how to care and communicate with someone who seems suicidal or has attempted suicide.

During the question and answer session, members of the panel will speak of the importance of their representation on the panel and the audience will be able to write questions on provided notecards. Runners will then collect the notecards and deliver the questions to the panel mediator. Three of the anticipated panel members include a Lawrence Township graduate who has survived her battle with suicide, the mother of a young man who took his own life and the Operations Director of Behavioral Health at Community North Hospital.

Allen explains why the township is choosing to partner with Community North to put on this forum now.

“It’s such a priority. Central Indiana has had a lot of suicides and a lot of suicide attempts, and we want to make certain that we’re helping our families,” Allen said.