#8 Jason Reid on his son's suicide and teen suicide

This session is very powerful and intense. Jason Reid is 52 years of age, he is married and has three children.

Last year his fourth son, Ryan, killed himself.

Jason shares his son's story, his perspective as a Dad and his views on parenting and the challenges our children are facing in todays world. He gives a lot of valuable practical and powerful advice.

Although the session is very sad and the topic difficult, teen suicide and depression are important points of conversation we need to have. Teen suicide is the second leading cause of death for the age range 15 to 24 in the U.S.A.

Jason has since brought an organisation to life called chooselife.org and is on a mission to end teen suicide by the year 2030. He has also produced a documentary on teen suicide called "Tell My Story". 

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Our kids do not hear us, they emulate us.
2. Be authentic and teach them vulnerability by being vulnerable yourself.
3. Speak to each other, to your own kids and to other kids.
4. "I’m fine." is not a sufficient response from my child when my gut tells me otherwise.
5. Parenting is inconvenient.
6. Kids talk to us when they want to. Make sure you catch it when it counts.
7. And lastly: the world has changed, our parenting needs to change accordingly.

Links for further reading and information:

1. Jason’s organisation CHOOSELIFE with the goal of ending teen suicide by 2020
2. Jason’s (TEDex) talks
3. Jay's most recent TED talk
4. Jason's documentary on teen suicide "Tell my Story"
5. More on Teen Suicide in the U.S.A.

Need help? Visit: Suicide prevention Lifeline or call: 1-800-273-8255

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