S.C. lawmaker works to put focus on suicide prevention
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Suicide is among the leading causes of death for teens and young adults in South Carolina.
And new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the state’s overall suicide rate is going up post-pandemic.
Only two suicide-prevention laws have ever been enacted at the South Carolina State House.
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Sen. Katrina Shealy is pushing to more than double that number next year – including with bills aimed at helping South Carolina’s kids.
“Every child’s life’s important. So we want to make sure that every child has access to those numbers, and a child can 988,” said Shealy, R-Lexington.
That’s the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
One of Shealy’s bills builds on a piece of legislation she got ed a few years ago. It requires the 988 number and other crisis resources be printed on all school ID cards for seventh- through 12th-graders in South Carolina public schools – plus college students.
This bill would expand to include students as young as kindergarten – in both public and private schools.
Shealy’s second bill would require kindergarten through high school teachers to get two hours of suicide-prevention training to renew their credentials – which they do every five years.
This training has been required for middle- and high-school teachers in South Carolina for about a decade.
“Everyone has a role in preventing suicide, so we want to figure out how we can help people help each other,” said Robin Crawford, South Carolina Department of Mental Health legislative liaison.
A third bill Shealy has filed would require professional counselors to receive suicide-prevention training to renew their license, as well.
Lawmakers will be back at work in Columbia in less than three weeks, when they’ll be able to consider this and other legislation.
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