Today’s young people are on the frontlines of seeing their friends show varying signs and thoughts of suicide. With social media increasingly becoming more dominant form of communication, young people are voicing that they want to be able to have the capacity and confidence to engage and respond to their peers they see experiencing distress online. Through collective action in the Perth Metro area, several youth agencies and youth advocates recognised the need to create information to empower more young people to respond to their friends in this time of need. Further co-production sessions with young people identified the need for this resource to be a QR sticker that accesses a website, with leading Australian youth suicide prevention information, that is practical, youth-friendly and evidence-based. This started the collaborative creation and launch of an online website called Right By You, guided by our Youth Steering Committee.
RightByYou is a youth peer-to-peer suicide prevention website designed by and for young people, that informs young people who want to help their friends experiencing a mental health crisis. It offers an instantly accessible web tool that provides young people with the key information to empower them to safely engage and support a friend who is showing suicidal signs online. By promoting Australia’s leading best-practice evidence-based youth suicide prevention resources within one accessible platform, the website aims to build young people’s confidence in identifying warning signs, initiating important conversations, and referring friends to help.
Since the launch and promotion of the website in Perth Metro from April to October 2023, there have been a recorded 8.7K Individual Users with over 10K Click-ins. The presentation will explore concerns emerging for suicide prevention in today’s youth, the collaborative development of the website, on how communities can best utilise the website to support young people, and provide insight on the first year of 1 year since the launch of the website.