Start Building those Sources of Strength

Contributed by Matt Hallauer, School Counselor
 

There was a village on a large river near a deadly waterfall. One day they saw someone thrashing in the water, floating to the crest. The villagers quickly jumped in and saved her.

The next day, they had to do it again, twice. Day after day, the numbers needing saving kept increasing. The village built watchtowers and assigned lifeguards to watch the river 24/7, yet they were still overwhelmed by those needing saving and traumatized by those that slipped by.

Until one day they decided to send some people upriver to teach them how to swim.

That fable was the mindset behind Sources of Strength, a suicide prevention program for schools based on research that building resilience in kids is the most effective suicide prevention tool. Sources of Strength identifies 8 keys to resilience: 

• Faith
• Family Support
• Generosity
• Healthy Activities
• Mental Health
• Mentors
• Physical Health
• Positive Friends

If a student is struggling in 1 or 2 areas, the key is to help them draw strength from the other areas. While many suicide prevention groups wait until someone is suicidal and then encourage to them dial 988, the mentality of Sources of Strength is to help most never need to dial 988.

I have heard claims that who a kid is at 7 is who they will be at 70. It probably seems nice to think that everything about their character is predetermined and out of our control so trying to change anything is a waste of effort. I don’t believe that. As a high school counselor, I get to see kids turn little opportunities into big changes.

On the day before school started, our teachers attended a Mass for Hayden and then went to work discussing the pillars of our school. I sat at one of the Service-focused tables. We’re educators, so we know that some knowledge and habits are temporary. I could name all 50 state capitals in 3rd grade, now I only know Montpelier and Pierre exist because I just looked them up. As educators, especially at a Catholic school, we want the most important lessons to stick. Will our community service requirements and opportunities and awards open the door to a lifetime of service? Or will they stop as soon as they graduate?

One staff member told us her sons joined Key Club when they were Saints, and they enjoyed making meals for people at Ronald McDonald House. Her sons are now in college, and their old Aquinas friends had organized another Ronald McDonald meal during Christmas break. Thanks to Key Club, they now enjoyed helping others and were willing to give up some time on Christmas break to do it again.

The NHS Blood Drive is one example of service that does not have a reward. There is no class competition point for donating. Students do not even get a service hour. They get a snack and a t-shirt. They just donate because they can, and we hope it inspires a lifetime of donations.

My first blood donation was at the Aquinas NHS Blood Drive during my first year of teaching. They made it easy to donate, so I did it, and it started a habit.

Once students leave Aquinas, blood drives often become less visible. We know it’s easier to overcome your fear if you have positive friends, your family, or a mentor beside you, in a community centered on faith and generosity. That’s five out of eight sources of strength, if we can pull them together.

I’m reaching out with a selfish intent today: I want more kids to start a lifetime habit of donating blood. I want this because the world needs more blood donors. I have a dad who has been fighting cancer for years (25% of blood goes to cancer patients), a mom who will need heart surgery before she can have hip surgery, and lots of others that I hope stay out of the ER. 1 out of 83 births require a blood transfusion. There’s a lot of good stories on our website about Saints who have benefited from blood donations.

Please encourage your Saint to donate. And you or a family member can donate alongside your Saint! Help them have the strength they need. You can walk with them on this journey. And when they start to think it is too scary or will be painful, you can be right there to encourage them to focus on the joy and gift of blood donation.

Hopefully this starts a lifetime of realizing they can give life to others.

You can read more about the Blood Drive in this week’s Parent Newsletter, or on the Blood Drive webpage, and you can read more about blood donation at Save a Life Now.