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Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people 15 to 24 in the US, second only to auto accidents; with recent suicides in young adults from both Pleasanton and Danville, it’s become clear that it’s not always “someone else’s kid” that’s in danger.
On any given day, at some area schools, an ambulance will quietly pull up, out of sight of others, to protect the identity of a student deemed at risk of harming himself or another, what police call a 5150.
That, however, is not the case at San Ramon Valley schools, where police can track just five 5150s over the last year.
It’s not that the schools are lax, either; according to district spokesman Terry Koehne.
“If we think there’s a potential threat, Koehne said, “we call the police.”
The district is much more aware about those threats than it was “10 or 15 years ago,” said Rob Stockberger, director of secondary education.
That may be especially true in the wake of the suicide of a middle schooler several years ago. The girl, chronicled in the movie “Race to Nowhere,” took her life, apparently distraught over doing poorly in math.
School resource officers also play a role, Koehne pointed out, explaining that with officers on each campus, schools no longer have to wait for police to arrive.
Both Koehne and Stockberger agree the biggest asset is counseling. While the state budget problems have meant reductions or even the elimination of counselors, elsewhere, the district has kept its counselors on staff.
“We have counselors at both the middle school and high school level,” Stockberger said. “Granted, they have large caseloads.
Those caseloads mean four counselors at schools with 2,000 to 4,000 students, he said.
The district also has a mutually beneficial partnership with the Discovery Center, Stockberger said.
“Counselor interns are available on all of our campuses,” he said.
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What does the resource officers do at school to prevent suicide? I don’t understand.
The counselors are wonderful people but their job is impossible. Most kids do not even know who their counselor is, or ever meet with them. It is sad. Most teachers, counselors, school admin, and parents are totally out of the loop when it comes to kids emotions and pressures.
It is the nature of the teenager to hide their problems. What is the answer… I wish I knew.
Being ever vigilant and taking the time to just be with our kids hopefully helps and shows them that we care about them and their very real problems and emotions. Life has gotten so complicated for these kids, their innocence is long gone once they get to high school.