Imagine yourself, maybe walking around school, chilling out at your house, or just hanging out with a friend. You get a notification, pick up your phone, and see a text, “I’m sorry, I hope I see you again.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 800,000 lives were claimed due to suicide alone. That’s about one person every 40 seconds. While there are so many stories we could focus on, this article will mainly focus on a story that could hit closer to home. One interviewee said their friend 1 was storing pills and had been to a mental institution a few times before. The interviewee stated that “[they] told [friend 1] not to do anything rash, and [they] attempted to notify the front office. After, friend 1 has been treated differently ever since.” There are so many ways this story could have been handled differently, but one thing that needs to be brought up is how the school handled this. Interviewee 1, went to the office and tried to help their friend, and ended up with a massive scenario that must have been so stressful to them. Interviewee 1 also stated, “Friend #1 wasn’t properly supported by the school system, I think because school counselors have to report anything and everything that’s a risk to parents, this makes kids feel unsafe because it makes kids doubt their security.”
Unfortunately, the school system plays a huge role in teen suicide and most of the time, there’s no overarching fix to this. Suicide plays a pivotal role in both the person’s life and their social circle. Overall, it’s not the schools’ fault that they are underfunded however, the school system could do more to help the people.
