New legislation in the state house would require teachers to get training on identifying the warning signs for depression and suicide.
Schools are already encouraged to provide some kind of training on suicide and depression but the legislation would make that a requirement.
Students would receive education in health classes and staff would receive training in warning signs of depression and suicide.
Republican State Senator Peter Lucido introduced the measure.
“Every teacher out there says we’re already overwhelmed with mandates,” he said. “Well, you won’t have a student to teach if they commit suicide, so I think the mandate is necessary.”
Lucido said teen suicides have become a crisis.
“What we have is this we have an epidemic of teen suicides,” he said. “These are happening in K-12. How do we educate them if they are experiencing these anxieties, these issues, we need to talk.”
In 2017 Michigan reported over 200 suicides among individuals 10-24 years old.