“I Do Want to Be Safe”: How a Louisiana Suicide Prevention Program Supports and Empowers Youth

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 9-8-8. Or contact the Crisis Talk Line by texting TALK to 9-8-8.

High school students can be lifesavers. And the most important life they save may be their own.

More than a decade ago, the community of Lake Charles, Louisiana, experienced a series of suicides and road-related fatalities that shook parents, teachers and students. Grief counselors came in and did great work, but one tragedy followed another until a student asked the principal of Sam Houston High School if he could share his story with other students. 

The principal said yes, and that seemingly small act helped set the stage for the creation of Peer Initiative, an innovative program combining professional counseling and peer support built by and for young people.

“Peer Initiative noticed that some students would rather talk to teens than go to adults, and sometimes they feel more seen by their peers,” said Zoë Mouton, a recent graduate of Sam Houston and a four-year participant in Peer Initiative. “We like to say that we get students to save their own lives, to say, ‘I do want to be safe,’ and then we work to get them to a long-term solution.”

This type of a program, though, can’t thrive without the support of funding models that empower and enable communities to save lives. “The trainings for students are through a contract with the state of Louisiana and are funded through CDC grants,” said Ken Brown, CEO and co-founder of Peer Initiative. “This funding is crucial, and the grant from the CDC Injury Center is allowing us to go statewide and have a bigger impact. If this work stops happening, then kids who could have been saved, won’t be.”

As Peer Initiative has progressed over the years, it has spread throughout and beyond one high school. “Everybody in our school is very aware of the program, and we have mental health rallies and more,” Mouton said. “But we also talk about it outside school. We go to the state capital for advocacy day. We talk to legislators, representatives and the school board.”

Mouton’s story is particularly inspiring…and surprising. “I've personally attempted suicide three times, and just this October was the last time I dealt with self harm,” she revealed. “I'm always willing to share that story because I am not what people envision as somebody who would struggle with suicide.” 

“We're grappling with a very serious subject, but we are part of something important,” Mouton said. “And we are surrounded by such a positive community. That is always a good thing.”

Zoë Mouton is an incoming freshman at McNeese State University. Ken Brown is Chief Executive Officer of Peer Initiative.