Counselors must have absolute and positive ethical and legal duty to report suicide threats just as they have a duty to report suspected child abuse in which any and all suspected situations are reported. Suicide is just too big of a threat to ignore and it overrides whatever obligations to privacy they have to the student. Ignoring a suicide threat is like ignoring claims of rape or child abuse by the victims.
The school also must be legally responsible for a student’s suicide. A counselor’s ethical obligation to a suicidal student has to extend beyond parental notification. And of course the student is going to deny that they said anything about attempting suicide - they are scared they will be locked up in a psychiatric ward. If a student isn’t helped after notifying parents or guardians, then the student’s counseling needs haven’t been met. School counselors must make every attempt to supply parents or guardians with counseling referrals until placement is secured for that student.
SOURCE
http://www.ascaschoolcounselor.org/article_content.asp?edition=91§ion=140&article=780
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