PIERRE — For South Dakota youths on the verge of being lost, one program continues to provide light.

Since 1999, Masonic Student Assistance Training programs have been offered in South Dakota to give educators the knowledge to recognize students at risk of substance abuse, violence or taking their own lives.

Gary Griffith, coordinator of the program, said the it continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s South Dakota youth.

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“It’s not the same program that was developed in the ‘80s,” Griffith said. “In the schools now, you see a lot of cyber-bullying — whether that’s on Facebook or through other venues. Consequently, that has come more into play than it was even four years ago.”

The program originated in Pennsylvania in 1984. After implementation, drug use and the number of suicides among school-aged children dropped drastically, according to the program’s Web site.

Today, every Pennsylvania school building in the state must have a team of teachers and staff trained in understanding worrisome student behavior. The program is now in 26 other states.

“The Freemasons have always been concerned with education,” Griffith said. “All we were trying to do is fill a void in this state to assist schools to have properly well-trained student assistance teams. There seemed to be a need there that wasn’t being filled other than school districts sending their teams out of state to receive training. We’re just trying to help out in the state.”

Griffith said $60,000 is budgeted for the program in South Dakota each year to pay for teachers to attend the three-day course. It’s offered twice a year for up to 70 educators.  

“Beyond the shadow of a doubt, they feel this has really helped their teams move forward to assist children,” Griffith said. “A couple of school districts have told me they believe in their hearts they’ve prevented suicide because they’ve attended this event. Other schools have said they’ve assisted kids who were prone to violence. That almost always stems from them being bullied in the schools. That’s a huge part of what they do.”

Griffith said the local freemasons raise thousands of dollars each year through a steak dinner in the spring. He said hundreds of Pierre educators have attended seminars over the years.

According to the Grand Lodge of South Dakota Web site, the Masonic Student Assistance Training is the most successful program in the state for preventing suicides and drug and alcohol abuse among children.

South Dakota is one of the leading states for suicides among young people and nationally depression afflicts 1 to 3 percent of elementary and middle school children, and 5 percent of teenagers, according to the program’s Web site.

The next seminar is set for March 2-4 in Mitchell.