LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GoGuardian and the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) today announced a partnership to prevent youth suicide nationwide. AAS is dedicated to the research and advancement of suicide prevention strategies, and GoGuardian provides classroom technology to 120,000 educators and 4 million students in all 50 US states. The two organizations are announcing this partnership in reverence to National Suicide Prevention Week September 10-16, and National Suicide Prevention Month this September.
The Youth Suicide Epidemic
GoGuardian and AAS are partnering to deliver innovative suicide detection and intervention strategies to schools and vulnerable students. Research demonstrates that suicide has become an epidemic in American schools. The statistics concerning young people are particularly troubling. On average, 1 in 5 teenagers have contemplated suicide. Our younger children aren’t spared from this crisis: suicide is the third-leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14, the rate among this group doubled in the U.S. from 2007 to 2014, and for the first time, suicide rates for U.S. middle school students have surpassed the rate of death by car crashes.
Smart Alerts
As a tech company that works in education, GoGuardian recognized this crisis in schools across the country, and decided to do something about it. This year, GoGuardian released Smart Alerts, an A.I. technology that detects potential cases of self-harm and suicide in schools, and triggers alerts to educators and administrators for immediate action. In just one week, GoGuardian received over 33,000 alerts of both self-harm incidents and explicit behavior. In just one school, GoGuardian received 75 alerts of self-harm incidents over the period of a week. Said Tyler Shaddix, Head of Innovation at GoGuardian, “Through Smart Alerts, we began to understand the magnitude of the epidemic of suicide, and our ethical responsibility to take further action to prevent it.”
Advait Shinde, CEO and Co-Founder of GoGuardian added, “We quickly realized we couldn’t tackle this crisis alone. We needed to partner with the ‘real’ experts - the nonprofits, research organizations, psychologists, educators and counselors - to bring innovative solutions to address this crisis. The American Association of Suicidology often says, ‘Suicide is everyone’s business.’ I cannot think of a better call-to-action for society to unite together across industries than the shared goal of saving lives.”
As an official Advisory Partner to GoGuardian, the American Association of Suicidology will provide resources for school officials that utilize Smart Alerts to help prevent self-harm and teen suicide. GoGuardian is also launching the Self-Harm and Suicide Resource Center, which features resources including the American Association of Suicidology’s latest research and intervention strategies for educators. Said Colleen Creighton, Executive Director of AAS, “The technology industry is in a unique position to create innovative solutions that help students at-risk, especially when it comes to identifying red-flags and warning signs. We are thrilled to be partnering with GoGuardian to apply the tremendous innovation that has been the hallmark of the tech industry to the suicide crisis, to create solutions that could save students’ lives.”
Armed with the leading research and expertise of the American Association of Suicidology, GoGuardian has committed to expanding its Smart Alerts program in schools, and to partnering with more organizations to bring the issue of suicide out of the shadows and into the light. In addition to AAS, the American School Counselor Association and the National Association of School Psychologists will also serve as members of GoGuardian’s Self-Harm Advisory Committee, and provide guidance to the Self-Harm and Suicide Resource Center.
GoGuardian's Smart Alerts program has been launched in schools across the country, and is already having a tremendous impact on detection and intervention. Said Garrett Chandler of Denton Independent School District in Texas, "In just the first week of school, Smart Alerts has already saved kids' lives. GoGuardian and Smart Alerts truly has made a difference in our district, and we're excited to see how GoGuardian expands efforts to prevent student suicides and self-harm."
For more information and suicide prevention resources, please visit GoGuardian’s Self-Harm and Suicide Resource Center.
About the American Association of Suicidology
The American Association of Suicidology(AAS) is a pioneer in suicide prevention and provides the highest quality suicide prevention and intervention to the public. AAS develops and disseminates cutting-edge research and information about suicidal behaviors, and champions the application of strategies that reduce suicidal behaviors. AAS has been instrumental in advancing Suicidology as a science, and in expanding scholarly work in this developing field.
About GoGuardian
Based in Los Angeles, GoGuardian® is an award-winning cloud-based software suite providing educators with unprecedented control over their school district's 1:1 program. Teachers can better manage their classroom technology and connect with their students, while district administrators can rest easy knowing their students are kept safe from inappropriate content and harmful behavior on the web. With GoGuardian®, school leaders can keep the internet as open as possible—but as safe as needed—empowering students to discover, learn, and grow while helping them stay focused and learn digital citizenship. GoGuardian currently serves over 4 million students and 120,000 educators nationwide.