With so many youth turning to Facebook before, after and sometimes even during school, it’s no surprise that social media websites are often the first to find out about a youth’s suicidal thoughts or plans.

Thankfully, somebody over at Facebook has caught onto this and so there’s now help available on Facebook for youth who are feeling distressed or contemplating suicide.

A program that was launched on Tuesday will allow users to instantly connect with a crisis counsellor from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline through Facebook’s messaging system.

If other users feel that their Facebook friends are posting suicidal or distressed comments or updates, they can click next to their comments to report it. A message is automatically sent to the original author of the post encouraging him or her to call the Lifeline or to log onto Facebook’s chat tool for a confidential chat with a counsellor. 

The introduction of this new tool, I’m hoping, will make it easier for youth to seek help for not only their friends, but for themselves. With so many young people hiding behind computer screens these days, it can sometimes be difficult to get them to even pick up the telephone let alone go into a counsellor’s office to get the help they need. An online tool, such as this, should take away the nerves and embarrassment that some youth may feel when considering getting help.

So please when you see your family tonight, share this tool with them. Make sure they know how to use it correctly. But most importantly, remind them that if they feel that somebody is in real, immanent danger, a call to local law enforcement produces the fastest response to a friend who is in trouble.

More important than that, make sure that your children are comfortable enough to know that if they need help to come to you, or to somebody they trust. We don’t want to leave our children’s lives solely in the hands of Facebook followers.  But then again, it’s an anonymous, non-threatening first step for a youth in crisis.

For more information, and step by step instructions on how to use this new Facebook tool, read this article on the CBS News website. Share it with your family, friends and colleagues.

Let me know what you think of the new Facebook tool. Will it help, or hinder the chances of youth getting help?