Lives Worth Living
Applying Zero Suicide as a Prevention Approach for Schools
- Stephen Sharp - Educational Consultant, 2017 Pennsylvania Middle School Counselor of the Year
- Perri Rosen - Psychologist, Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Foreword by Kelly Posner
Protect lives by building safer, stronger school communities
Suicide among our youth, especially the most vulnerable ones, is a growing yet preventable crisis. We can and must create a meaningful, systemic change by creating school environments where every student feels safe, seen, and supported.
Lives Worth Living offers a comprehensive, actionable framework that empowers school leaders, counselors, psychologists, and others to address this critical issue head-on. Drawing from the Zero Suicide framework as well as decades of research and practice, the authors, experts in school counseling, school psychology, and mental health, integrate a proactive and comprehensive suicide prevention approach with multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to help schools move upstream in their prevention efforts. Inside you will find:
- Seven foundational components of the Zero Suicide framework adapted for schools—lead, educate, identify, engage, care, connect, improve—to elevate your prevention strategies
- Proactive approaches that reduce risk while enhancing protective factors for all students
- Real-world examples and voices from the field, centering on lived experiences of students, to inspire practical, compassionate implementation
- Reflection questions and planning tools that guide school leaders and teams in creating sustainable, data-driven change
This hands-on guide blends leadership, education, engagement, and care into a unified approach that strengthens not only suicide prevention but also the entire school system. By taking action, educators can build safer school climates and empower students to lead lives worth living.
"The application of the Zero Suicide Framework to youth suicide prevention in schools is brilliant! This book should be on every principal's book shelf."
“The authors' deep insight and unwavering dedication to student well-being are at the heart of this book’s mission—to empower and equip educators with the knowledge, tools, and strategies needed to foster safer, more supportive school environments. By drawing vital connections between historical safety reforms and the pressing need for comprehensive suicide prevention in schools, this framework not only highlights the urgency of the issue, but also provides clear, actionable steps for meaningful change. Through this work, the author paves the way for a future where every student is seen, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive—where no child is lost to suicide.”
“Suicide prevention is a must at every level of education, and this book explains how to do it based on MTSS, which most schools already have in place. But the underlying message of the book goes beyond suicide prevention, with the goal of helping students create Lives Worth Living, which is what every educator shows up at work to do every day. The lessons start in kindergarten on day one.”
"Lives Worth Living: Zero Suicide in Schools is a compelling and necessary call to action for school systems facing the ongoing realities of youth suicide and mental health challenges. Grounded in both research and humanity, this book exposes the limitations of current systems and offers a practical, hopeful roadmap for change. With clear strategies to strengthen protective factors, build cross-system collaboration, and prioritize compassionate, data-informed interventions; it empowers every educator, leader, and mental health professional committed to student well-being to take its call to action seriously."
"This book is a must read for school personnel as it utilizes an innovative approach of integrating the Zero Suicide framework into all aspects of multi-tiered school systems. This book will help schools implement and develop programming to more effectively educate staff on suicide prevention strategies, identify youth of concern and care for those youth, and coordinate various systems of care to improve outcomes. The goal is zero suicides and this book is integral in providing strategies to go upstream to prevent future youth suicides and create lives worth living."