Past the Tipping Point: Teaching parents to help prevent teen suicide
BATTLE GROUND, Wash. – Schools around Oregon and Southwest Washington are making efforts to curb bullying on their campuses and prevent suicides.
Friday in Salem, teachers will participate in a training to stop bullying; in Gresham on Thursday, students participated in an assembly called “Stand for Respect.”
Bullying and suicide are especially emotional topics in the town of Battle Ground where seven teenagers have committed suicide at least in part because of bullying.
On Thursday evening community members gathered to learn about identifying signs of problems with troubled students. The meeting was about education and raising awareness not just for parents, but for everyone in the community who interacts with kids.
Topics included how to connect with kids who might be depressed and what questions to ask.
Inside the school library where students usually study, this night it was the parents taking notes.
As one parent noted, this is the reality of parenting in 2013.
“My daughter said to me her biggest thing is ‘you don’t get it,’” said Kim Peterson. “Well, I get it. I remember being in high school, but I don’t get it from her perspective.”
Keeping open lines of communication and asking questions are two of the most important things parents need to do with their kids.
“If there’s a behavior you notice new and lasts more than two weeks you should get professional help,” said suicide prevention expert Mary Jadwisiak. “Asking that question directly and clearly: ‘are you so sad suicide might be an option?’”
Jadwisiak class also said it’s important to be very clear with teenagers that suicide is an action that can never been undone.
KATU reporters Meghan Kalkstein and Valerie Hurst contributed to this report
- short Video - Beat a Bully without using your Fists! Learn why bullying happens and how to deal with it succesfully. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SvK5s-bZ3k
Bullying has always been present in school. Parenting has never ever been as lax as it is now. If you want to learn what your child is doing and how they feel about it. BE THERE FOR THEM! Many parents now seem to think that school will take care of their spawn. What they don't realize, is that they brought them into this world, and it is not the world's place to bring them up to adulthood, it is their's. Parents need to recognize that their children are their very own offspring, and they need to bring them up to be like themselves or better. That is the job of parents, and not the government, the schools, or anyone else! Grow up, people, and do the job that you have to! Not just procreate for whatever reason! Help your kids; become informed about what they do, and who they interact with. Everything and anything else is just topping on the pie of life!
The headline should actually read "Teaching parents to TRY TO help prevent teen suicide". As sad as it is to say it, I think that if a person has crossed that line and has chosen to attempt suicide, you're not going to be able to stop them.
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I had a friend commit suicide, and I had absolutely NO CLUE that she was even thinking about it. She had lost a job, was broke and was about to lose her apartment. I can only assume that she chose to take her life rather than move in with parents or other family. I got a phone call from a family member telling me that my friend had committed suicide, and I was stunned. For awhile I felt guilt, because I felt responsible for something that I couldn't stop.
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I don't know how hard or easy it is to see the signs of a person thinking of committing suicide. But in my case, I didn't see one sign. That being the case, how would a parent be able to see any signs in a teen?Â
This sounds like a great idea given how a father in a recent story missed some pretty big red flags. Even though I believe I'm in tune with my kids, I'd definitely attend something like that if it was closer to me.
Please get involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention if you want to make a difference in our communities. www.afsp.org is our website or you can contact me for more information.
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 @Dr. Rawdog @randola @kramr Hook, line and...........
@Dr. Rawdog    """""""Here's a thought, if you are being cyber bullied.....unplug from the internet. I haven't had the internet in years and my life has only gotten better."""""""""
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Please enlighten us...... Exactly how does one comment on an INTERNET website daily without having the internet in years??? just wondering
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 @Dr. Rawdog And yet you participate daily on at least this internet forum...?
 @randola  @Dr. Rawdog Ha ha I was thinking the exact same thing...
30 years ago, kids did not consider suicide, being bullied just made us stronger, but because of evil social media sights like Facebook, kids are learning suicide is the only way out.  They get examples from other children every day from social media.
We need to start at home, these mean kids are a product of their environment, and parents should take responsibility for their children's actions, period.  Does anyone know who the kids are that bullied Jadin????  Those kids and their parents should be court ordered to take courses in anger management and learn how to treat other people. Why are all these bullies STILL getting away with murder?? Why? Bring them forward!  If we start outing them as bullies they will stop. Until then, it will keep increasing.      Take responsibility for little Johnny's actions because YOU as the parent are the ones raising a mean kid. Â
A lot of the kids are far meaner these days than they were even ten years ago. Add to that the fact that there are more students than ever and continuing budget woes, and you get a whole lot of friction between people. Even a lot of the teachers are downright mean now, just the entire system is stressed and it has become a climate of hostility.
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 @Fed up Fed I have seen some of that, but the girls in my house say they experience most of that at the school. The place is way overcrowded, so they can barely move through the halls, there is a lot of pushing and shoving, which sometimes leads to aggression. Teachers are under a lot of pressure and stress, so a lot of them aren't as nice as they could be. And apparently a lot of boys now don't know how to treat girls with respect, our girls have been bullied by as many of them as by other girls. So... we fired that high school. Thankfully, the district offers an online academy, so now their schooling takes half the time, minus the commuting, reducing the stress and eliminating the risk of being victimized by bullies or a violent attacker. Of course, online schooling isn't for everyone. There has to be a very strong trust relationship between kids and parents and the kids have to have self-discipline.
 @James Gnau  @Fed up Fed Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage...
Somebody said that once...