Talk about teen suicide

No one wants to talk about teen suicide.

It's painful, it's tragic, it doesn't make any sense.

Better to pretend it doesn't happen, or that it doesn't happen here.

Better to hide your head in the sand.

Of course, not everyone has that luxury. Not the families of teens who attempt suicide (you'd be amazed by how many you know), not the friends of those who have died.

Not schools and communities shaken to their roots -- like Mount Vernon, stunned by a rash of student suicides this academic year. Three high school student suicides in only seven months. What could you possibly say?

This week, I listened in on a Suicide Prevention Resource Center presentation designed to help schools respond to suicide.

Dale Chell, former youth suicide prevention coordinator for the Iowa Department of Public Health, was one of the presenters. Hundreds of educators from across the country participated, sharing best practices learned through painful experience.

A lot of those lessons learned were specific to schools. Maybe not surprisingly, a lot more were about educating the community.

"They don't want to talk about it," said panelist Richard Lieberman, Suicide Prevention Services coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District for more than two decades.

Parents commonly worry that if they bring up the subject of suicide, they'll plant the idea in their teenager's head. They're too ashamed to get mental health counseling, scared it means their child is crazy. Some parents will do anything else: "They're more prone to take the child to the doctor, or the church, or the mall than they are to take their child in for mental health services," Lieberman said of parents.

Support kids in their grief; combat rumors with facts. And above all, send a clear, unanimous message: Suicide is never an option.

You can find more information, including tips about what to say at www.sprc.org.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among Americans aged 15 to 24.

Even if they aren't at risk, teens need to know what to look for -- a teen in distress is more likely to talk with a peer than a teacher or parent. They need to know that if they're concerned about a friend they should tell an adult. They need you to tell them -- again and again -- that there always is another way.

No one wants to talk about teen suicide. Not you, not me, not anyone.

But if there are teens in your life who you love, you don't have a choice.

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@sourcemedia.net