A Queen Creek High School Student called out Queen Creek High School Administrators in a chilling Facebook post.
Autumn Borque, a 17-year-old Senior at Queen Creek High School, says not enough is being done to stop the teen suicide epidemic.
In her post she writes: "I am tired of watching my friends cry, and I'm tired of feeling the pain of loss...But this is my school. Here the school believes it is right not to memorialize those who are lost. Here the school believes that keeping things quiet is better than not saying anything at all."
"That's how I'm feeling, it's how I feel now," said Borque.
The post came a day after two Queen Creek High School teens were found dead over the weekend.
MCSO says they are investigating one as a possible suicide.
Christina Nguyen is a parent working to bring the suicide issue to the forefront in the East Valley. She said the latest death brings the suicide count to 9 since July 24th.
Borque's post caught both the attention of Nguyen and Queen Creek's Chamber of Commerce.
"I wanted to cry..it was hard enough reading it, but then to hear her actually say it was a lot," said Nguyen.
"My first thought was how very sad that a child feels this way," said Chris Clark with the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce.
Clark said the Chamber of Commerce and Queen Creek's Unified School District, along with several church organizations, have been trying to address the teen suicide issue. But, after reading Borque's Facebook post he feels they may be missing the mark.
"We're talking in the wrong channels to the wrong people with the wrong message...and we need to find out how we fix that," said Clark.
Stephanie Ingersoll with Queen Creek Unified School District said the school district has been addressing the issue with crisis counseling teams, parent forums, and placing the teen lifeline number on the back of school ID badges.
In a statement Ingersoll writes:
"In response to the posting, we want the community to know and
understand all the steps QCUSD and QCHS staff and administrators are
taking to help our students. As stated in the attached document, teen
suicide is an extremely important issue that has to be addressed not
only by the school, but by families, faith, and community leaders. By
working together, we can help our young people cope with forces they
are not equipped to handle."
While no one is quite sure how to solve the issue, Borque feels that a student led suicide group at Queen Creek High would be a good start, and Clark agrees.
"I want students to have a safe place to talk with other students," said Borque.
"Teenagers are not going to just reach out to the adults," said Clark, who also emphasizes that the issue is not just a school issue, but a parent and home issue as well.
"I have hope because now there's pressure on the school to actually do something, they've been exposed," said Borque.
