The activity is coordinated between the Directorate of School Support, of the General Directorate of Schools, and the Directorate of Mental Health, of the Ministry of Health.
This Tuesday, in the facilities of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the UNCuyo, the first day of training on Suicide Prevention Strategies in the School Environment began, an activity coordinated by the Directorate of School Support (DAE) of the General Directorate of Schools (DGE) in coordination with the Directorate of Mental Health, of the Ministry of Health. Carina Gannam, director of the DAE, was present; María de los Ángeles Zavaroni, the head of Special Education; members of the work teams of the different departments and teachers of the departments of Luján, Maipú and Godoy Cruz.
The day began with the screening of the Belgian film “Close” (2022), about the relationship of two 13-year-old friends who, when they distance themselves after suffering homophobic bullying, triggers a tragic end. At the end of the film, an academic panel was formed with representatives from the technical teams of the DAE and the Ministry of Health.
Regarding the activity, Carina Gannam, director of DAE, highlighted: “with the DAE we put together a program to prevent child and adolescent suicide, because we are seeing that this problem is establishing itself and is on the rise in Mendoza and Argentina. We have indicators in the world that after the pandemic this has decreased a little, but that is not what is happening to us. We are concerned that it is also happening at increasingly younger ages; We are having cases from the age of 11, that is, at the primary level. We are going to do it throughout the province with the same scheme of presenting teachers with tools and instruments so that they can be operational at the moment, in terms of prevention first and then when something happens, for example some self-harm, so that they know how to act. And the postvention, which is afterwards the accompaniment to the students, teachers and the entire family after a fait accompli,” the official concluded.
For her part, the director of Special Education, María de los Ángeles Zavaroni, stated: “it is necessary for teachers to have a theoretical framework, because we understand that they were not trained for this. It is important that they know that they themselves can, because there are certain myths that will be exposed in this training, such as, for example, if you are not a psychiatrist or health professional you cannot intervene.”
“One of the tools offered to professionals who work with adolescents on a daily basis has to do with the idea that they can generate, through listening and interest in the attitudes of adolescents, that empathetic bond with some student; It is essential to teach them the tools to detect different behaviors, because teachers are with them all day, they already know them, and they can notice those signs (irritability, depression, anguish, anxiety) that adolescents show over time.” Zavaroni declared.
Schedule
The activity will take place during four days in the month of June and in different locations in the province. This Wednesday the 12th will take place at the San Martín Congress Center for teachers from the Eastern province. On Tuesday the 25th, the stage will once again be the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the UNCuyo, for professionals from the North zone. On Wednesday the 26th, in the Health Area of the Municipality of Tunuyán for personnel from the South Central zone and finally, on Thursday the 27th, at the San Rafael Congress and Exhibition Center for teachers and health professionals from the South zone. .
It should be noted that the DAE has coordinated actions to work with the technical teams that each special school has. This Tuesday, some professionals from the technical teams of the Special Education schools of the primary schools of the modality were present to accompany the students’ process and to prevent situations that later lead to having to intervene in more specific aspects. Zavaroni emphasized that it is necessary to participate in these trainings together “for those students who are included and for those who attend special schools of the prevention modality in each of the different areas where a student with disabilities has to go through.”
Noelia Fernández, teacher at the Martínez de Rosas school, stated: “although we have not had situations related to this issue, but it seems very important to me because they are at an age where emotions are changing and it is necessary to learn to detect and also see “What a way to help them.”
Regarding this, Fabricio Fiochetta, psychologist on the DAE team, section 53 of Maipú, expressed: “For us it is very significant to be able to meet and reflect on suicide prevention in schools, our workplace. From the DAE team we work on this issue in an interdisciplinary manner with teams from across the province, detecting emotional situations that children manifest at school (such as sadness, anguish and all types of emotional disturbances) and addressing these situations in order to detect these types of problems,” said the professional.
Source: DGE Press
