Arizona high school athletes raising awareness for suicide prevention month

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Highschool soccer gamers in Arizona are working to assist stop teen suicide in a singular means. The objective is to supply hope to different youngsters who could also be struggling by way of a public service announcement video collection.

Nineteen soccer gamers and one cheerleader from 18 Arizona excessive faculties are starring on this video collection. It comes throughout Suicide Prevention Consciousness Month but in addition at a time when requires assist are growing by the day right here in Arizona.

Highschool teen athletes need their friends to know there’s assist if they’re combating despair, anxiousness or ideas of suicide. “Particularly my age, with social media going round, there’s a variety of destructive influence on the earth and I come throughout it virtually on daily basis with my mates,” mentioned Deshawn Warner, a 16-year-old soccer participant at Desert Edge Excessive College.

“From society itself it’s a variety of stress on younger teenagers and a few folks cope with the stress in a different way,” added Kaleb Carter, a 17-year-old soccer participant at Desert Edge Excessive College.

Carter and Warner are a part of the motion organized by Teen Lifeline and the Grand Canyon State Gridiron membership. “It might probably actually be the classmate sitting subsequent to you that smiles and laughs all day, and also you’d by no means know,” Carter mentioned.

Teenagers are reaching out for assist a report quantity statewide. The Teen Lifeline Suicide Prevention Hotline took over 22,000 calls and 20,000 textual content messages from younger Arizonans in 2021. That’s greater than double in comparison with 2019. Most of these calls got here from children and youths between 10 and 19 years outdated. “Even when it’s simply grabbing meals, we are able to seize one thing and discuss and have an opportunity to take a deep breath and loosen up,” Carter mentioned.

These athletes hope to spark change by opening the dialog and making a secure area, whether or not that’s for teenagers on their campus or folks they’ve by no means even met. “Even if you happen to really feel you don’t want to assist, simply having somebody in your nook is all the time one thing that’s comforting,” Carter mentioned.

“I wish to be a huge impact in folks’s lives not only for the month however for a very long time,” Warner mentioned.

The groups concerned on this PSA can even be carrying teen lifeline stickers on their soccer helmets this month. In case you need assistance or know somebody struggling, click on right here for assets.

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