Hidden in Plain Sight:

The Warning Signs in Words, Devices, and Student Behavior

Nearly 1 in 10 students attempted suicide last year, and about 4 in 10 report persistent sadness or hopelessness. The signals are already being sent. When the whole community knows what to look for, no student faces a crisis along—and every warning sign becomes a chance to help.

You don't have to be a counselor to save a life

Watch as a internationally recognized youth suicide expert and a forensic linguist who studies how students encode risk will show you exactly how to catch the signs—the ones hidden in plain sight, and the ones deliberately coded to slip past teachers and staff. Reading them isn't intuitive. It's a skill you can learn.

Because the next concerning sign will surface long before the school year is over. It won't wait for the right person to be in the room. In the moment you see it, you'll either know how to help—or you won't.

Most adults in a school building will encounter a warning sign before counselor ever does. The bus driver. The coach. The front office staffer. The teacher who noticed something shift. What happens in that moment depends entirely on whether they know what they're looking at.

What you'll learn:

The clinical picture of youth suicide—warning signs, stressors, and risk factors--and what research says about the window between a first signal and a crisis
How life online is accelerating the crisis—chronic social media use, cyberbullying, and what's showing up in your building every day
Real, redacted examples of warning signs surfacing on school-owned devices—and why catching lower-level signals early is where prevention begins.
How students encode suicidal and self-harm language to evade basic filters
How a digital threat detection alert becomes coordinated action—connecting that right support to the right student before a concern becomes a crisis

Dr. Scott Poland

Professor & Director of Suicide/Violence Prevention Office

Nova Southeastern University

A licensed psychologist and internationally recognized expert on youth suicide, Dr. Poland co-authored suicide-safer school plans for Texas and Montana and is a past president of the National Association of School Psychologists.

Jess Campbell

Sr. Analytical Linguist

Navigate360

A forensic linguist, Jess has helped shape Navigate360's Digital Threat Detection since 2019, researching the language of risk—from suicidal ideation to self-harm—so schools can recognize students in distress before harm occurs.

Ryan Sladek

Regional Vice President

Navigate360

A former educator and Regional Vice President at Navigate360, Ryan is a CSTAG trainer who has helped districts nationwide build and manage behavior threat assessment programs.

The warning signs most adults walk past every day.

The clinical picture of youth suicide risk—how it shows up in real life, and the role a student's digital world plays in accelerating it.

What students are saying that your filters can't catch.

How students disguise suicidal and self-harm talk with symbols, substitutions, and in-group vocabulary—and why lower-level signals are the ones that matter most.

What to do the moment a concern surfaces.

How language scanning—not monitoring—routes a student to help, and the exact steps to take when a signal appears.

What happens if you miss it—and what protects you if you act.

How meeting your legal obligations build a culture where every adult knows their role—and no student falls through the cracks.

Hidden in Plain Sight:

The Warning Signs in Words, Devices, and Student Behavior

Watch Now

The next concerning sign will surface long before this school year is over.

The signs are already there. This session teaches you to recognize them and how to act on what you see.

Learn from the experts.