The Suicide Help Intervention through Education and Leadership Development for Students (S.H.I.E.L.D.S.)
The S.H.I.E.L.D.S. programme aims to train senior secondary and senior primary students as gatekeepers and peer leaders in suicide prevention and mental health promotion. Gatekeepers are regular people who have basic skills in recognising signs of distress and can be an initial source of support for people in need and help refer them to relevant resources. It has been shown to be a promising approach to community suicide prevention and enhancing help-seeking.
Our research shows that young people are highly motivated to support their peers who are in distress or crisis, with clear advantages of training students to become leaders to support their own school communities
The S.H.I.E.L.D.S. programme, initially conducted from 2022 to 2024 with support from the Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme by the HKSAR Health Bureau, seeks to expand its reach and impact through funding from the Quality Education Fund (QEF). Notably, the number of participating schools has been increased to 40, and extending from only secondary schools to also primary schools.
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The initial run of S.H.I.E.L.D.S. trained a total of 90 student leaders and 37 school staff members over 8 local secondary schools. After the programme, the students shared that they found the trainings to be a valuable learning experience, where they were able to enhance their skills in assessing and providing emotional support to peers in distress. Additionally, the students reflected that not only was the student-led project an opportunity to share what they had learned and enhance their peers’ awareness of mental health, it was also a great experience in learning to plan and implement activities for their school communities!
- 港大的培訓令我學會怎麼去評估同輩的狀態。當我遇到同輩有情緒問題時，我們變得更勇敢地直接詢問。
- 這個計劃著重教會學生自我關注。我學會了在幫助他人前，需要先照顧好自己。如果無法先好好照顧自己，這對自身和對方都沒有好處。因此，這個計劃讓我思考如何加強自我關注，並進一步關注自己的想法。
- 我希望成為這個學生領袖角色後，我能承擔一定程度的職責，進一步關注身邊人的情感及精神健康。
- 我很榮幸參加這次培訓，也很高興看到學生們變得更有自信地為朋輩提供支援。希望他們能學以致用，更勇於嘗試。
- 這個計劃讓我們有機會實現夢想着嘗試的活動，甚至能進行測試與探索。
- 我認為 SHIELDS 最珍貴之處是能夠為老師和學生創造傳承知識與技能的機會。
