Reproductive health, distress and supportive mental-health response
Provide medically accurate, nonjudgmental reproductive-health education with appropriate privacy. Menstrual patterns vary; a textbook model is not a reliable prediction of every adolescent's ovulation. HPV vaccination is preventive, not a treatment for established cancer or a contraceptive. A student seeking help after sexual contact may need time-sensitive clinical services, safeguarding and counseling. Explain confidentiality limits without making an impossible promise of secrecy.
Mental-health assessment includes function, duration, severity and immediate safety. Depression, anxiety and eating disorders cannot be reduced to ordinary moodiness or judged by appearance alone. Significant food restriction, recurrent compensatory behaviors or severe distress warrant qualified assessment. School staff should not invent an independent psychiatric diagnosis or initiate unsupervised drug changes.
Take suicidal statements seriously. Ask directly about safety, remain with a student at immediate risk and activate the relevant crisis and emergency pathway. Nonsuicidal self-injury still warrants compassionate assessment and follow-up. Grounding and calm support may help distress, but first consider medical emergencies. After a death, factual communication and coordinated support should avoid graphic or glamorizing accounts. The aim is safety, dignity, clinical handoff and sustained support, not punishment or stigmatizing labels.