When the community and its schools come together to talk about teen suicide, the result is starting a conversation on a difficult topic.
On Monday night, Niles Community Schools and Brandywine Schools hosted a community forum on teen suicide in the Niles High School auditorium.
The forum was a response to those who had asked to take action to help stop teen suicide, following the death of a Niles High School student in 2016. Niles Community Schools suggested the forum as a first step in tackling the issue. Around 30 people were in attendance, including several students, school administrators and members of the schools’ Crisis Response Team.
The audience listened to a presentation, which sought to bring more awareness to the issue, address myths and identify local resources. Those in the audience also had time to share their thoughts in a question and answer segment.
Niles Community School district Superintendent Dan Applegate started by addressing some of the myths of teen suicide. Some believe that if they ask a teen if they are considering suicide, it will put the idea into their head. This, Applegate said, was not true.
Asking students if they are considering suicide is often the first way to begin to breech the issues that are troubling the teen, he said.
To get the community involved, Applegate said those in the community could stop these myths from being perpetuated and educate those who do not know.
Applegate went over several behavioral and lifestyle changes that could indicate that a teen is contemplating suicide, including depression, substance use, increased risk taking, giving away prized possessions and aggression among a few indicators.
He also presented statistics revealing the severity of teen suicide across the nation. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in people ages 10 to 19, he said. For every one person who dies of a suicide, an estimated 100 to 200 youth will make an attempt.
“We need these statistics to talk to the community,” Applegate said. “We need these statistics to talk to people who have not been affected by teen suicide. We have people in the audience who have been directly affected by this.”
Surveying the audience that evening, Applegate said he was glad to see student participation in the forum.
“I am excited to see that we have students here,” Applegate said. “We have talked to a couple of students and they were not aware of all the resources available to them.”
Officials inside the school receive annual training, aimed at teaching them how to identify signs of depression and how to handle a situation where a teen needs intervention.
The presentation generated a lot of discussion from audience members about how to address related topics that are difficult to discuss, like bullying.
Helping to lead the discussion was Brandywine Superintendent John Jarpe, who invited people in the audience to share ideas.
Pastor Jeffrey Whittaker, of Michiana Christian Embassy, suggested bringing in more speakers to engage students in topics like bullying.
Many also wanted to know what they could do to help if they noticed these issues. Administrators in attendance encouraged parents to tell their children about school resources.
Ring Lardner Middle School Principal Doug Langmeyer said teachers often ask why students shy away from talking to an adult, especially when so many trained adults are there specifically for the purpose of helping students.
“It is not necessarily fear,” Langmeyer said. “Generally, it is a social stigma kind of thing. There is a lot of pressure on kids not to snitch, not to tell.”
Langmeyer said he hoped to share with students that going to an adult could greatly help a troubled student or themselves.
Moving forward, Applegate said it was discussions like these that may help the school and community break ground on these difficult topics. He encouraged the community to continue to share their thoughts and ideas with the schools.
“Do not hesitate to get involved,” he said.