To the Editor,
In the wake of the recent tragedy in Connecticut I want to take this opportunity to talk about Teen Suicide. As a former high school health teacher I am keenly aware of the significance of this problem in our society. In the United States, Suicide is the No. 2 cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 24.
The Centers for Disease Control did a nationwide survey of high school students and found that 16 percent of the students had seriously considered suicide, 13 percent had reported creating a suicide plan, and 8 percent had reported attempting suicide in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Most (81 percent) of the youth who commit suicide are male and the most prevalent (45 percent) method of committing suicide is through the use of firearms.
Prevention of tragedies such as what happened in Connecticut is more than just about gun control and school security. It’s also very much about tending to the emotional health of our teenagers. It’s about recognizing the risk factors of suicide. It’s about recognizing the signs and symptoms of suicide. It’s about removing the stigma of counseling. It’s about having access to health care that includes mental health care. It’s also about parents paying a lot of attention to their teenagers.
Some parents may believe that their teens no longer need as much attention as they did when they were in elementary or intermediate school because teens are more able to take care of themselves. But, in actuality, teens need attention and support more than ever. Teens deal with a lot of stresses – dating and sexuality, schooling, parental divorce, pressure about college, pressure from peers, drugs, pregnancy, problems at home, etc. Unlike adults, many teens have not yet developed all the coping mechanisms necessary to deal with life’s stressors.
As a teacher my experiences with teen suicide was close. I have known students who have committed suicide. Each year I had several students in my classes who had once attempted suicide. When the “Suicide Prevention” unit was moved from the 10th grade curriculum into the 9th grade curriculum, my 10th grade students asked me to continue teaching the lesson anyway. Each year I introduced the school psychologist and social worker to my classes. After that presentation the school psychologist would report to me that he had several of my students come knocking at his office door for help.
I already hear media pundits debating gun control. But until we take mental and emotional health seriously, tragedies such as the Virginia Tech, Columbine and Connecticut shootings are likely to continue repeating themselves.
Barbara Glakas
Herndon, VA
[Email letters to the editor to leslie@patch.com.]
One of the most gut-wrenching experiences I think a person can experience is that of violent death in general and the violent death of a young person in particular. As you are a veteran on the front-lines and have been exposed to this first-hand, you have my condolences. I cannot even imagine what it must be like for a parent to live with this type of tragedy. I had no idea that a suicide prevention course was taught in high school and I am amazed that you received so much response from what I discern to be a most basic course. As a total neophyte in child psychology, I would love to hear from the people on the front-lines, educators, as to what we can do to minimize the tragedy of broken children.
Once a person reaches adult status (i.e. 18), there is very little the family, social services, or the police can do to proactively intervene when that person begins to show signs of potentially violent behavior if that person is not willing to accept treatment. For all intensive purposes, the police can do nothing until the person has committed a crime. As we've seen in cases of mass shootings, the perpetrators often have no criminal record; their violent acts have no precedence. There needs to be a discussion about how to strike a balance between protecting the rights of adults with mental illness and protecting the general public. Until we do, incidents like this will happen again.
As a health teacher I used to use the heck out of the school psychologist (SP) and social worker (SW), making referrals whenever I thought kids were under enormous stress, or dealing with home situations that they could not cope with, or who seemed to have anger-management problems. Unfortunately, these positions are not always fully funded. The County funds these positions, not the school system, so when budget cuts are made, the hours of the SP or SW get cut. There were some years that our SP and SW split their time between 2 or 3 different schools. There was also a recent push to centralize some of these positions into centralized locations, so the kids could go to them. That’s crazy. The kids, many of whom don’t even drive, aren’t going to go somewhere several miles a way to go get help... continued…
I also think screening for depression would be helpful. Heck, we screen the kids for everything else – physicals, shots, eyes, hearing, academics, etc. Why not screen them for depression too? It would only take teaching them to recognize signs and symptoms and then having them take a simple survey. They wouldn’t have to be forced to get help, but I bet most of teens would self-select to get help once they recognized the symptoms and knew where to go to for help. I find that most teens want help, because they are tired of dealing with all their “stuff.” I could go on about parents too. There are some who are great and have wonderful relationships with their kids. But then there are others who have no idea what’s going on in their kids’ lives.
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
Solutions to dilemmas of violence, excessive guns, drug use, suicides, mental illness, and countless attitudes and problems in our culture–particularly for teens and young adults—are unbelievably complex. We all need to become more aware of the people we interact with, notice possible problems and communicate more openly. In other words, CARE and not be comfortably isolated. WHAT TO DO? Be aware and do SOMEthing when there are opportunities. This might range from communicating more effectively with our own kids (if any are still at home) to talking with a kid in the neighborhood to volunteering in countless positive activities to being aware of issues and expressing opinions and ideas to legislators. GUNS. A current opportunity is forming and sharing opinions regarding availability of guns and gun violence at all levels of government. Unfortunately, there is too much polarization on “2nd Amendment” opinions. Hopefully, the shock of the Newtown CT incident will help open hearts and minds to some realities beyond entrenched dogmas. SCHOOL SYSTEM SPs and SWs. Right now, if funding for those critical positions is an issue, what do you suggest, Barb? People with kids in school can connect through their schools. Should others write to School Board rep(s) and to Supervisors “for the record as taxpayers”?