[etni] the Richard Cory debate - a professional answer from the National Organization for Suicide Prevention
- From: "R. Borenstein" <rachcb1@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2010 23:20:14 +0300
Not long after the dust had settled on the debate regarding teaching Richard
Cory, the second case of suspected suicide was committed by a boy (20/21) in
my vicinity. Neither case, which occurred six months apart, can be
explained, and each family is dealing with their tragedy in their own way,
far away from the media.
Along with the many discussions and professionals brought in to help, a
psychologist from the National Organization for Suicide Prevention was
brought in tonight. When the time came, I asked the question that was
brought up on ETNI, "Should we teach literature, specifically Richard Cory,
and bring up the topic of suicide to teenagers, or avoid teaching it to
prevent students from getting ideas?"
The answer was clear cut. She said that bringing up the subject through
literature and allowing students to deal with the subject is best and ideal.
For every student who is vocally in favour of suicide, or jokes about,
others will come and give reasons against it. It is healthy in that it is
out in the open and those who may even be considering it will hear from
their classmates the reasons against it, which may in turn, prevent another
tragedy.
She did not feel that we needed professional help before initiating the
discussion. As teachers, regardless of whether we are teaching a sensitive
topic or not, we need to know who our students are and look out for signs of
distress. We have homeroom teachers and counsellours for support and
information. Sometimes, when the topic is brought up by an English teacher,
as people commented a few weeks ago, we are the ones who can pick up on the
cues that others have missed.
Another teacher in the audience, a math teacher, asked how to react if a
student gets a poor grade and threatens to commit suicide. The psychologist
said that in this case, one should use common sense and know with whom they
are dealing. The word "suicide" has become a word used too casually and not
every time the word is used should a red flag be raised immediately. Be
cautious? Yes! But look to see who is saying it and keep an eye out for
those who are overly dramatic versus those who are actually in distress or
have recently been showing signs of behaviour that has changed dramatically.
Rachelle
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- » [etni] the Richard Cory debate - a professional answer from the National Organization for Suicide Prevention - R. Borenstein