JOYCE — Right behind car accidents, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15 to 19 year olds in the state, according to the state Department of Health.
While there are driver safety courses and myriad other groups who educate youths about the dangers of drunken driving, there are very few people talking to teens about suicide prevention.
However, a group of about 20 teenagers from the Crescent School District who witnessed the devastation of suicide firsthand are trying to change that.
Classmates and friends of Joe Rogers, a seventh-grader at Crescent Middle School who shot and killed himself on campus two years ago Friday, have developed a local chapter of the Youth Suicide Prevention Program based out of Seattle.
“A lot of people don’t like to talk about suicide, so there’s a lot of myths,” said Emma Hefton, 17, a junior at Crescent High School who is one of the chapter’s founders.
Dispelling suicide myths
The most common myth is that talking about suicide only causes more suicide, said Sherry Jones, the district’s counselor.
But the reality is that by keeping silent about it only causes teens not to have the tools they need to address the problem, Jones said.
On average, about two youths ages 10 to 24 take their own life every week in the state, and about nine times out of 10 they told a friend beforehand, according to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program.
“That’s why peer to peer education is so important,” Jones said.
