Post by title1parent on Jun 10, 2009 7:11:04 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=299492&src=10
Barrington community to work on suicide prevention
By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald 6/10/09
The recent suicide of the fourth Barrington High School student within two years has prompted the school and community no longer to see such tragedies as isolated events.
Barely a week after the latest death, Barrington Area Unit District 220 hosted a forum for community leaders Tuesday aimed at seeking new ways to reach out to young people and address their emotional needs.
"About a week ago, after the latest suicide, we got a barrage of e-mails and phone calls," Superintendent Tom Leonard said.
Those generally fell into two categories: people expressing a need for help in the community, and others offering such help.
Leonard said the choice these young people made have been devastating not only to themselves and their families but the entire community.
While being respectful to the privacy of the families involved, Leonard said there has been no easily recognizable common cause among the four recent deaths.
The decision to take one's own life is not usually caused by one thing, in any case, but is often the end of a long string of circumstances that leave people feeling at least temporarily in anguish, he said.
"We do not have a solid thing we can point to that we can say it was this or this or this," Leonard said. "In some of these situations, we're aware of something going on. In other cases, we're not."
Tuesday's meeting of parents, faculty, clergy, counselors and civic groups was intended as the first step in what is hoped to be an intensive process over the summer of preparing a new program aimed at the emotional well-being of all students. The group hopes to launch the program in the early part of the next school year.
At the invitation of local ministers, the Samaritan Counseling Center will host a meeting for district parents at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in Barrington High School's main auditorium, 660 W. Main St.
"One of the key things that ran through our meeting today was the need for parent education," said Sylvia Boeder, representing the Healthier Barrington Program.
"As we go forward with expanding this, we want to make sure we do it right," Leonard said.
As such, the district hopes to establish communication with other communities that have reported an unfortunate consistency in teen suicides in recent years, such as Naperville and St. Charles.
Leonard said District 220 has always been involved with the emotional well-being of its students, but is open to its role in this communitywide effort being redefined or even expanded.
The next step
• As part of a new effort to combat teen suicide in the Barrington area, the Samaritan Counseling Center will host a meeting for District 220 parents at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in Barrington High School's main auditorium, 660 W. Main St.
Barrington community to work on suicide prevention
By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald 6/10/09
The recent suicide of the fourth Barrington High School student within two years has prompted the school and community no longer to see such tragedies as isolated events.
Barely a week after the latest death, Barrington Area Unit District 220 hosted a forum for community leaders Tuesday aimed at seeking new ways to reach out to young people and address their emotional needs.
"About a week ago, after the latest suicide, we got a barrage of e-mails and phone calls," Superintendent Tom Leonard said.
Those generally fell into two categories: people expressing a need for help in the community, and others offering such help.
Leonard said the choice these young people made have been devastating not only to themselves and their families but the entire community.
While being respectful to the privacy of the families involved, Leonard said there has been no easily recognizable common cause among the four recent deaths.
The decision to take one's own life is not usually caused by one thing, in any case, but is often the end of a long string of circumstances that leave people feeling at least temporarily in anguish, he said.
"We do not have a solid thing we can point to that we can say it was this or this or this," Leonard said. "In some of these situations, we're aware of something going on. In other cases, we're not."
Tuesday's meeting of parents, faculty, clergy, counselors and civic groups was intended as the first step in what is hoped to be an intensive process over the summer of preparing a new program aimed at the emotional well-being of all students. The group hopes to launch the program in the early part of the next school year.
At the invitation of local ministers, the Samaritan Counseling Center will host a meeting for district parents at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in Barrington High School's main auditorium, 660 W. Main St.
"One of the key things that ran through our meeting today was the need for parent education," said Sylvia Boeder, representing the Healthier Barrington Program.
"As we go forward with expanding this, we want to make sure we do it right," Leonard said.
As such, the district hopes to establish communication with other communities that have reported an unfortunate consistency in teen suicides in recent years, such as Naperville and St. Charles.
Leonard said District 220 has always been involved with the emotional well-being of its students, but is open to its role in this communitywide effort being redefined or even expanded.
The next step
• As part of a new effort to combat teen suicide in the Barrington area, the Samaritan Counseling Center will host a meeting for District 220 parents at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in Barrington High School's main auditorium, 660 W. Main St.