15 year old, Female, VA

TEEN QUESTION/PROBLEM:
My best guy friend in the whole entire world is thinking about suicide. I dont kno if hes serious or not. Shud i bring his parents into this ? Or wait until i know for sure if he means it ?

TEEN LINE WROTE:
Dear G_____,
Thank you for emailing TEEN LINE. That must be so frightening knowing that your friend has been having these thoughts and confusing about what to do to help. Even if you don’t know how seriously your friend is considering suicide it’s so important that you be safe and tell someone about it. If you’re worried about telling his parents then could you possibly talk to a school counselor or another adult that you trust? If you’re concerned that friend might get mad at you I completely understand but it’s so much better to have him mad at you than to risk something worse happening. I’d really like you to give these numbers to your friend to call, the first is the National Suicide Hotline, it’s open 24 hours a day and the number is 877-727-4747. The second is our number here at TEEN LINE, we’re open 6 to 10 pm pst and our number is 310-855-4673. I really hope that things get better with your friend and it’s wonderful that he has someone like you there to support him.
Best wishes,

a TEEN LINE teen