Recent Suicide in NW Iowa Called a "Bullycide"

  If you have been following the news today and yesterday, or even following your social network feed, you likely have come across the story of Kenneth Weishuhn, a 14-year old boy at South O'Brien High School that committed suicide over the weekend. This was after relentless harassment, attacks, and cyber and phone threats over the past two week after the teen came out as gay. Family and friends claim "bullying" led him to commit suicide, leading this incident to be called a "bullycide" (suicide after being bullied repeatedly). Sadly, this event shows the terrible effects that bullying, harassment, and cyberbullying can play. Bullying has been around forever, but people my age and older could get away from bullying be simply going home after school each day. In Kenneth's case, like many students today, he went home and got phone calls, texts, and even found Facebook posts and group pages directed at him and harassing him. If teens want to truly live in today's world, they have very few options to avoid cyberbullying and bullying could be a 24/7 event. I have worked with a student before who was getting mean and threatening text messages at 4 a.m. in the morning on a weekday! But with all the talk about bullying in this case, I do want to remind people that suicide is never the answer. The choice to choose suicide is a selfish act that harms just as many loved ones as the bullying that may have started it all. Bottom line in a case like this is that many students made horrible decisions to humiliate and harm another student and that student felt he had no other choice but the ultimate worst choice: suicide. Hopefully the good that can come from this is for everyone to learn what they could have done instead. Realize that words can hurt immensely. Realize that supports are out there for people who are suffering. And realize that we all have to be alert for both people who are harming others AND people who are showing signs that they are depressed, angry, or hopeless. Kenneth's life can not be brought back, but the lessons from this event could help save someone else's life.

To learn more about this story, click on a few of these links. The Sioux City Journal article is really good and really helped me understand all the parts of the situation.

Channel 13's short article plus video.

Sioux City Journal article...really good explanation of the school's role, family's role, and the details of what could have been done and what was done.

"got courage?" Anti-Bullying Campaign posters

  The two high school counselors and I recently completed an 8-week course from AEA and Drake titled "Anti-Bullying: Where to Start". It was a great course and a demanding one, but we all learned a lot. Our final project was to create some sort of Anti-Bullying campaign. I have embedded a powerpoint below showing 10 posters that I created and will be hanging up around our school building on May 1st (May Day....words someone might say if they are in trouble and need help). I will also be having student council members pass out "Lifesaver" candies to all kids at lunch and each piece of candy will have a slip of paper stapled to it. Each slip will have a bully statistic or fact printed on it. The candy was chosen because I want all students to know that they can be a "lifesaver" to someone. They can stand up and stop harrassment or bullying, report it, or help a student walk away, block a post, or delete an online bully. We have done other surveys, professional development, and activities throughout the year, but this final poster and information campaign will hopefully make a difference and make our students think. Please click through the slides below and when we get to May 1st, ask your child if they saw the posters and ask them what they think they can do to be a Life Saver and make a difference in another person's life. Thank you!

"Got Courage?" Antibullying campaign

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Small Things Can Make a Big Difference!

Have to thank Larry Ferlazzo and his Websites of the Day for a quick blog he made with this comic strip. He made a great point: You never know what might make a difference in a teenager's daily life, but it could be pretty small. So....as parents, teachers, friends, loved ones, we need to keep doing the little things that might make someone's bad day become a slightly better one.

Less Sleep = Depression? New Study Shows Possibility

In a recent Scientific American Study, results show enforcing a "bedtime" could be extremely important in your child's mental health. The link at the bottom has the full story, but take a look at this small excerpt:

"Columbia University scientists found that depression was 24 percent more common in teens whose parents let them go to bed at midnight or later than in kids whose moms and dads required them to hit the pillow by 10 p.m. The night owls were also 20 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts."

Middle School is already scary enough and as middle schoolers change, their hormones and body chemicals change too. This causes them to have mood swings (remember that age?!) and a harder time to keep steady with their moods and focus. This study shows that lack of sleep just adds more on top of these already difficult times and makes depression or suicidal thoughts an even bigger possibility. As a counselor, this scares me, but I have to admit that I see some of this first hand every year. I do some informal questioning of my students about bedtimes and sleep amounts and it does seem to show that the less sleep a student gets, the more likely it is that I will see them about possible depression, large mood swings, or even suicidal thoughts during the year.

So, as the school year starts, give this study a quick read and maybe even discuss the contents with your children and discuss why a good night's sleep is important, not just for those ITBS weeks, but for their own mental health during the year.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=less-sleep-linked-to-blues-in-teens