COOS BAY - It seemed much like any other presentation as nearly 1,100 chatty teenagers flopped into their seats at the Marshfield High School auditorium. But the sobering words of one parent quickly caught their attention.

“If you want to know what suicide does to a family, come to my home,” Annie Messerle said tearfully, as she addressed the student body. “I can show you pictures ... and the balls he played with, but I can't show you our beautiful son.”

Josh Messerle, a Marshfield alumnus, committed suicide Oct. 6, 2006.

Messerle was joined by the parents of Robert Perrin, a Marshfield junior who took his life in May 2004; and Steve Krajcir, a community bereavement services manager with South Coast Hospice. Together they unveiled a new suicide prevention program that gives troubled teenagers another way to reach out for help.

The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program was founded in 1994 by Dale and Dar Emme after the death of their child. It provides students with special cards they can hand to a friend or trusted adult as an official cry for help.

According to a video in the presentation, the program is featured in schools and surrounding communities in all 50 states, as well as Canada, and has helped to save thousands of lives.

Krajcir, who helped bring the program to the school after seeing a rise in suicides among teens in Coos County, told the students that if they receive a Yellow Ribbon Card from a friend or schoolmate, they mustn't joke or laugh. Rather, they should stay with the person, listen to why he is considering suicide and then get help immediately. The card includes the phone number for the Coos County Mental Health Crisis Line and a suicide hot line.

Even if the person asks, Krajcir added, the recipient should never keep a suicide threat a secret.

“It is better to lose the friendship than to lose the friend to suicide,” Krajcir said, noting that suicide is the second-leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds.

Describing the card as a life-saving tool, Krajcir said it is a simple way for teens to express their problems, especially when they might not be able to talk about what they are going through to parents.

“The bottom line is it encourages kids and adults to ask for help,” Krajcir said.

Marshfield Principal Travis Howard said school counselors attended a workshop on the Yellow Ribbon Program during the summer to prepare for the coming year and to implement the system on campus. While pre-emptive in nature, he said bringing the program to Marshfield is a response to several student suicides.

“The more we can do to get this message out the better,” Howard said, adding the school also recently developed an advisory program matching 20 students with an adviser in a home room-like setting. Together, they discuss teen issues, the better to develop a trusting relationship. “Students need to know that we are there and have a wide variety of people they can contact and go to at the school,” Howard said.

While speaking to the crowd of students, Leticia Perrin said she still is coping with the death of her son and believes the Yellow Ribbon Program will help prevent other suicides.

“In doing so I will be honoring the memory of Robert,” Perrin said. “I know in my heart that the Yellow Ribbon Program can save lives.”

Marshfield High School senior Jenny Bernheisel, 18, said the new program will be especially helpful for teens who don't have anyone to speak to about their problems.

She added that two of her friends, who committed suicide last year, might still be alive if they had a similar resource.

“A lot of kids may not feel comfortable going up to an adult, so it's one way they can kind of get their message out,” Jenny said. “I wish I had one of those things when my friends died.”