PHOENIX — The recent death of a 15-year-old student at Desert Vista High School has the community grieving while trying to navigate a conversation about teen suicide.
Help is a call or text away.
Locally, you can reach Teen Lifeline at 602-248-TEEN. For those outside of the Valley, you can call 1-800-248-TEEN or call or text 988.
Moments after word got out about a lockdown at the school on Friday, October 27, the pickup line started to form and families started to worry.
”My son was there and witnessed it, I know he’s very shaken up,” said a parent who didn’t want to share their name. The parent said their son called saying a sophomore tried to hurt herself on campus.
That led to the lockdown and police presence.
The 15-year-old girl died the next day.
In the days that followed, mental health specialists from the district and the city visited the campus. Both the school and police launched an investigation.
Phoenix police tell ABC15 that what happened was a “tragic incident,” and right now it’s being investigated as a death investigation. However, detectives are continuing to do interviews with family and friends, and if necessary, they’ll add charges.
The community and even other schools did their best to show hope in a time when it seemed hard to find. Football players from Mountain Ridge and Mountain View united to show support during their game following the death.
In Arizona, there have been 40 suicides of people under the age of 17, according to the state.
Tempe Union High School District officials say over the past several years, teen suicides have happened two to three times a year.
”Mental health was one of the reasons why I ran for this position in the first place,” said Armando Montero, Tempe Union Board President. He said when he was a student at Desert Vista, he lost a close friend to suicide.
Once he was elected at just 22 years old, Montero and the board started to address mental health with a committee that is made up of students, teachers, parents, and mental health professionals.
The group aims to take state-mandated suicide prevention training for all staff further by narrowing in vulnerable groups. That allows all staff to help identify someone in crisis.
”It is very difficult because we can establish as many policies and processes as possible. In many instances, there is no way to be able to tell or catch a student that may be struggling. It’s often times the students that seem the happiest at the moment [are the ones who are] struggling on the inside,” said Montero.
For parents, it's “hard to distinguish the difference between typical and troubled,” said Nikki Kontz, with Teen Lifeline. The organization took over 35,000 calls and texts from teens in crisis this year. One in three of the calls were from teens considering suicide.
Kontz urges parents who know their teen best, to trust their instincts if their student may be in a mental health crisis. Drastic behavior could be a sign.
Her message for online bullying is what you see isn’t always the full picture and is typically distant from reality. But above all – the best advice for parents is to lead by example, especially kindness.
”As adults, we have to understand that our kids understand the importance of being kind,” said Kontz.
ABC15 would like to remind anyone grieving or struggling they are not alone.
Help is a call or text away.
Locally, you can reach Teen Lifeline at 602-248-TEEN. For those outside of the Valley, you can call 1-800-248-TEEN or call or text 988.
