ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
I was keenly and painfully aware this morning that my decision to post news about a teen suicide would generate a lot of angry responses. I decided to do it anyway.
I have had enough of the long-standing well-meaning but wrong-headed attempts not to do stories about suicides. I maintain that brushing aside reports of this sad epidemic has done nothing to deal effectively with the problem. We collectively as a society have seemed to act as if we don’t talk about this, somehow the problem will be less severe or it will go away.
Not bringing the problem into the public arena has been an abject failure. Teen suicides have been rising in recent years. We must start a conversation among all of us to find ways to reduce the number of horrific reports about this trend.
By Friday morning, reports about the incident were rampant in the community and I’m sure throughout the high school. Turning a blind eye deliberately serves no useful purpose.
It is my deep personal belief that this epidemic of young people taking their own lives is somehow connected to bullying, and it is my firm belief that too many athletes are involved. Take a hard look at New Mexico State University canceling the rest of its basketball season.
I have no clue as to whether this tragedy of last Thursday night was the result of bullying. But I am suspicious.
I cannot seriously think of anything worse than losing a child. But instead of lashing out at someone reporting it, we should expend a great deal of energy in publicly discussing it and coming up with better strategies in recognizing those in trouble and better strategies in combatting bullies.
My condolences to the family of the deceased. Let’s see what we can do as a community to stop this scourge in our midst.
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