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State Sen. David Blount, Clinton mother Teresa Mosley and Clark Flatt, founder of the Tennessee-based Jason Foundation, are among those who championed Senate Bill 2770, requiring teen suicide prevention training for all teachers and administrators in the state's public schools beginning this fall. SYMPTOMS OF TEEN DEPRESSION The nonprofit Jason Foundation is a nationally recognized provider of educational curriculums and training programs on teen suicide prevention for use by students, educators, youth workers and parents. The Tennessee-based foundation is donating the materials to train Mississippi's public school teachers and principals in how to spot warning signs that a teen may be contemplating taking his life. Red flags should go up if a young person is: Talking about suicide. Saying he feels hopeless, helpless or worthless. Experiencing deepening depression, sadness or anxiety. Making arrangements; setting his affairs in order. Giving prized possessions away, or visiting or calling people he cares about. Losing interest in what he usually cares about. Taking unnecessary risks, or displaying self-destructive or out-of-character behavior. Teens should tell someone if they are in crisis, or if they know a friend is contemplating suicide. They can call 1-800-SUICIDE. Source: jasonfoundation.com

Just weeks after her 15-year-old daughter Elisabeth committed suicide, Clinton mom Teresa Mosley knew what she had to do.

She vowed to do what she could to prevent other teens from taking their lives.

Educating teachers and principals about warning signs to look for in a child contemplating suicide was needed in a state with no curriculum to address what many call the "silent epidemic."

As what would have been Elisabeth's May 22 graduation from Clinton High approaches, Mosley is filled with a mixture of sadness and joy: Gov. Haley Barbour this month signed into law Senate Bill 2770, which mandates all of the state's public school teachers and principals be trained to identify warning signs that a child is contemplating taking his life.

Her passion in lobbying legislators, working with the offices of Attorney General Jim Hood and Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds, and her partnership with the state Department of Mental Health made all the difference in the bill's success.

"I shouldn't be here today," Mosley told more than 50 people who attended an April 17 news conference at the state Capitol to celebrate the bill. "I should be with my daughter who is graduating from high school, but I'm not."

Mississippi becomes only the fourth state that mandates public school educators be trained in teen suicide prevention. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in Mississippi, state Department of Mental Health figures show.

Not all teen suicides are reported as such, Mosley said. Families too often attach a stigma to mental illness, depression and anxiety that can result in a child's suicide.

As a ninth-grader at Sumner Hill Junior High, Elisabeth went from being a creative and gifted student to flunking tests and frequenting detention hall.

"We need to give the teachers the tools to recognize that something is not right," Mosley said. "Something is not right when a gifted girl suddenly makes zeroes on tests."

And, she said, educators need to know that teens contemplating suicide often talk about it with their school buddies.

"My daughter told someone," Mosley said. "That's a mighty big load for a 15-year-old girl to deal with."

Those at the news conference included state Sen. David Blount, who personally championed the bill through its passage, and Clark Flatt, founder of the Tennessee-based Jason Foundation, a premier national teen suicide prevention program.

Flatt's son Jason took his own life at age 16 in 1997. As in Elisabeth's case, there were distinct warning signs that Jason was preparing to take his life.

The foundation is donating materials to be used in the training of Mississippi educators. The Department of Mental Health is responsible for coming up with the specific curriculum, how it will be taught, and the duration of the training.

"What you've done will be a beacon for other states," Flatt said. "I can't do anything about my son's loss, but there is a lot we can do here to keep this from happening to another student."

The training, Flatt, said will teach educators not only to recognize the signs, but "how to respond to those signs."

Clinton district assistant superintendent Tim Martin said that although the district's primary job is academic, "we are committed to the positive mental health of all students."

The district does not have a structured suicide prevention course, he said. "We focus on this through our counselors at each of the buildings, and through character education," he said.

He said the district will work with the state on the mandated teacher and principal training.

"Clinton is a close-knit community," he said. "We have had students commit suicide, and it has a devastating effect on their families and their peers at school.

"We want to do what we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening again."

The bill will, plain and simple, save lives, Hood said.

"We need to take on subjects that are hard," said Blount, whose district covers much of Clinton. "This bill will make a difference."