WACO, Texas — Waco ISD has been recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Month on all of their campuses this year.
At Tennyson Middle School, students have decorated the entire walkway into the school with positive affirmations to remind both students and staff how much they matter. They're also recommended to wear yellow each Wednesday to highlight suicide prevention.
"I think especially at the middle school level, they go through so many different emotions in general and we don't know what they're going through at home as well, so we think it's important to kind of build students' ability to cope and think things differently," Principal Bradford McMillan told 25 News of the different initiatives.
Students face a lot of changes but making the switch from the elementary to middle school and it can be challenging for their mental health. The school's older grades hosted a skit on Wednesday to acknowledge some of those challenges.
"She's kind of going through a lot of things," eighth grade student Katarina Telep said of her character in the skit.
"Her first thought is people are making fun of her and bullying her and saying mean things about her on social media. So that makes her sad and depressed."
Telep plays the lead in this skit. Her character struggles with her emotions, peer pressure, and bullying, until she finally finds a supportive group of friends to pull her through a dark time.
"Even though like things are tough and you think you are the lowest low, at this age you're so young and have so much of your life left that it really doesn't matter what you wore or what someone said about you," Telep said.
"I think one thing that's very important is they're not alone," McMillan said.
"They might be dealing with something, but everyone else is too and we can look at it through that lens as well."
McMillan said this is also a good time for parents to have these conversations with their students at home and listen when they discuss emotions.
For anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts, the suicide prevention hotline can be reached at 988.
