Cry for Help

“Shocking behavior at DC middle schools after a survey found that nearly 10-percent of eighth graders admitted to trying to kill themselves.”

That’s how most of the local news outlets reported the story. 

The truth is, none of it is really shocking. Mainstream media helps keep suicide a taboo issue when in reality it is a widespread disease. What's also frustrating is that District officials may not take the findings of this latest survey seriously enough.

News of the survey first made the rounds via The Washington Post. The Post reported on statistics found in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey that was administered last fall in eighth grade classrooms. It’s a survey sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it is self-reporting, meaning students fill out the answers on their own.

The news story went on to say that D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and other District officials, upon learning of the findings, “do not take the figure at face value.”

It nearly got my blood boiling.

First, let’s acknowledge that experts have had their issues trusting the YRBS survey. Results from past questionnaires apparently didn’t meet scientific sampling requirements. 

According to the Post story, there have been sub-groups either over or under-represented. The lack of trust in hard numbers is understandable, especially when trying to pinpoint specific trends for specific demographics. That doesn’t excuse brushing off the obvious, though. These kids are calling out for help.

Suicide is nothing new to teens and pre-teens. In fact, many are first exposed to the idea of taking one’s life through popular culture, literature, movies, the Internet and various media. Kids are also constantly bombarded with accounts of suicide due to gay-bashing, bullying at school, issues at home, domestic violence, etc.

Suicide has plagued younger generations for, well, generations. So it’s not shocking. It’s common. But that doesn’t mean the school system should ignore something so glaring until a more scientifically accurate survey is released.

There were other so-called shocking figures revealed in the latest survey, like how 28 percent of eighth graders have admitted to having sexual intercourse, and how 14 percent of middle school kids have drank alcohol. Once again, some things never change.

There’s something else that never seems to change: grown-ups never seem to listen. We tend not to take teenagers seriously when they try to tell us something. If there’s one constant in this world, it’s the ongoing rift between kids and grown-ups.

You remember how it was when you were a kid. So it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that teens are drinking, taking drugs and having sex. After all, these are the same things your peers were doing when you were in grade school.

When it comes to suicide, there are a number of reasons why people, not just kids, try to take their own lives. It is a complex societal mental illness. Often, it revolves around a cry for help. Sometimes that cry for help isn’t heard, and then it’s too late.

Do you want to know why middle school kids are battling authority, drinking and having sex? Do you want to know why an eighth grade girl is saying she has tried to take her own life? Just ask her. More important, we need to listen.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the fourth-leading cause of death among children aged 10-14 and the third-leading cause of death among kids 15 and older. Each year in the United States, approximately 2-million adolescents attempt suicide.

According to the District’s Office of State Superintendent of Education, the self-reporting of suicide attempts by D.C. public school students has been double the national average on a consistent basis.

It’s not shocking to hear that almost 10-percent of 8th graders in D.C. public schools have tried to commit suicide. What’s shocking is the fact these kids are offering up all the information, and adults still aren’t listening. 

My advice to the schools chancellor and other officials: start listening. All a kid really wants is to be heard.