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Re: Should I tell a teacher about self harm -
December 14th 2013, 12:45 PM
Hey there,
I wanted to give my two cents on this issue, as this is something that I did. When I was 16 and a sophomore in high school, I told my history teacher about my self-harm. And honestly, it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. She reacted very well and was extremely caring, asking me if I was okay and wanting to help in any way she could.
As it's been said, teachers are usually required to tell someone if they think a student's safety is at risk. In my case, it was my guidance counselor who was told, and he reported it to my parents. But don't let this deter you from confiding in a teacher. It's not like my teacher just told someone and left me hanging; she accompanied me to the guidance office, where we talked about my self-harm and what the appropriate next step was. She and my guidance counselor then told me how proud they were of me for coming forward with something so difficult. All-in-all, it was just a nice experience and definitely not one that I regret. I'm 20 now and I still keep in touch with this teacher and let her know how I'm doing from time-to-time. Despite the fact that I graduated from high school about a year and a half ago, she still cares about me as much as she did back when I was one of her students.
In terms of what method to use in communicating with this teacher, I would recommend either face-to-face or through a letter. I sent my teacher an initial email asking to talk to her after class one day but didn't include any details, and then gave her a letter the next day. The reason I don't recommend email is that school emails may not be confidential, so there is the possibility that someone (such as a school administrator) could find out about it. That could just be me being paranoid, but I personally don't like to take any chances. So I'd definitely recommend a letter if face-to-face is too hard. 
Best of luck! Be sure to let us know how it goes!!
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