Rash of Teen Suicides Rattles Calif. City

Affluent Palo Alto Remains Anxious after 4 Student Deaths on Commuter Train Tracks In Past 6 Months

(CBS)  Too often this year the Silicon Valley commuter train that roars through affluent Palo Alto has become a terrible solution for troubled teenagers.

The suicide on the tracks this week of a 16-year-old is the fourth in the past six months. All were enrolled in the same school, Palo Alto's top-rated Gunn High, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

Last night some 400 anxious parents gathered at a community meeting.

"It's more than a coincidence now and I almost wonder if it's starting to become like a siren call to kids who are in this area who are not feeling well," said parent Ann Hillen.

But the search for ways to stop it has been going on since the first suicide in May.

"It is a cruel irony that despite all these efforts and our increasingly strong committee outreach on this topic, we haven't yet found a solution," said Palo Alto School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly.

Many worry that each suicide is planting seeds for the next.

"Some of the students are saying it's more of a trend thing because you can totally see kids are getting a lot of attention from this," said Mathew Im, a senior at Gunn High School.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that as many as 5 per cent of teenage suicides occur in clusters. The Palo Alto deaths all happened near the same rail crossing.

"With everybody jumping in front of a train, with all the suiciders doing that, I think that does suggest there is that phenomenon at work," said Dr. Stuart Lustig, a child psychiatrist at UC San Francisco.

The news media generally don't report suicides but when the string of tragedies in Palo Alto sparked local news coverage there was criticism that the reporting could bring more copycat deaths.

"By showing video of the passing train, the loud train steaming down its corridor, we make that more accessible in the minds of someone else who's feeling troubled or feeling depressed," said Dan Ryan of the Palo Alto Police Department.

Local media even got letters from the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

"We're not saying censor the news but we're asking the news media to think a little harder about what they report because by reporting it they could be perpetuating the story," said Annenberg's Dan Romer.

A community is wondering whether more information will bring difficult issues out of the shadows or just bring more tragedy.

Suicide prevention resources:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; 1-800-273-TALK

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE); 952-946-7998

Suicide and Mental Health Association International (SMHAI)

Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention program; [e-mail]; 303-429-3530

American Association of Suicidology

Suicide Prevention Resource Center

National Institute of Mental Health: Suicide Prevention

World Health Organization: Suicide Prevention

[Treadlightly2]

Our earliest experiences are central to the kind of people we become later in life. The earlier these take place, and the longer they go on, the more profound an effect they can have.



Serious "adversity" in childhood would include, for example, sexual, emotional or physical abuse. The loss of a parent or sibling may also have a lasting impact.



For some people, their problems are more to do with neglect, rather than directly painful events. This would include feeling unloved or uncared for. This often happens to children of parents who were alcoholic or drug users.



Sometimes parents don't realise their children were adversely affected. It's not unusual for this to happen for example to the youngest children in large families, or to children who had a brother or sister with a serious illness.

[Maryjane__]

grdnimgnrys Ha! That was a fun interesting string of thoughts to sift through! I'm glad you wrote that.

I think some of these kids are looking for a thrill. I've seen little ones dart in front of cars just for kicks. If I was a business woman, I'd build a roller rink there.

I'm really liking this discussion going on here, Y'all should look at my twitter! I close it off and on, because, It doesn't need to be open all the time. I tend to bring in a **** load of lurkers. It's mostly open at night.

Twitter.com/maryjane_

La la la. Have a good day every one!

[Maryjane__]

grdnimgnrys Ha! That was a fun interesting string of thoughts to sift through! I'm glad you wrote that.

I'm really liking this discussion going on here, Y'all should look at my twitter! I close it off and on, because, It doesn't need to be open all the time. I tend to bring in a **** load of lurkers. It's mostly open at night.

Twitter.com/maryjane_

La la la. Have a good day every one!

[mecanik-2009]

"Some of the students are saying it's more of a trend thing"

Trends come and go, like bell bottom pants and Beatle boots. But I just don't see this as a trend. I think we have a drug problem here. This is the end result of thinking drugs are something we have the right to do. That we have the freedom to fry our brains out and jump in front of trains. Dopers are nothing more then pieces of meat waiting to die. Don't expect me to feel sorry for you when you willingly injest drugs into your system and become an animal. We need to shoot them like cattle and solve our drug problem here in this country. Unless we get serious about it the "drug war" will go on forever.

[Maryjane__]

Naw. We got enough natural disaster that wipes humanity out already. I say certain substance are going to remain on earth. If I agreed with you, That would be saying a death wish for myself! I say let them continue with poisoning themselves because it's their choice. Let nature take it's course. Then there's the possibility of their own self death. I got robbed of cash and molested by a cocaine user that touched my breasts with out consent. Cocaine, crack, heroine, those are the drugs that I feel are WRONG. Those people should seek help or die as they wish. I'll go play a video game with a chain saw, never need to be that violent with guns, yes?

In the end we choose how we die. We all die eventually. I choose a peaceful death for myself. A substance abuse user could be some one important to some one else, you know?

TRUST me though. After the night I had, I can understand your anger. Eh. I ******* about it and I'm going to take a nap.

[Maryjane__]

Not all of these therapy places are ********, just the ones I went to.

Pay attention to where you are sending your kids. NEVER force them to go. Tell them you are there to help. (Help shouldn't be painful!) If you can find a dollar and some chance in the couch, buy them a candy bar. Pay attention to wear your kids are getting help, make sure they feel SAFE and SECURE there. That's another one of the many keys. If you send them someplace they hate going they WILL resent you.

[Maryjane__]

I'm 27, I tried twice to kill myself. (Never again, no matter how bad things get.)

Some one should get me out there, I know I could help. A lot of these therapy places are complete and utter ********. I've wasted thousands of dollars for nothing.

I know a lot about depression, what it feels like when death is your only answer. I'd take some of these kids under my wing. I wouldn't poke and pry for information. (That hurts people far worse and it doesn't help.) The main SOLUTION is love. DUH. Humanity has not figured that out yet?

Smile, be a friend. Treat them to a little fun, and all the sadness will melt away, even for a day or an hour. And then it's so much easier for the real problems to be delt with in a proper way, if there's any problem left. Sometimes, that's all it takes. No sense trying to find solutions when the poor kids are miserable and scared. Picking at them makes it worse.

I know this about people. Kids and young adults tend to latch on to me quickly because I understand this.

[DaVicar8]

They shouldn't allow computers on trains...it distracts the conductor.

[missme4]

"The news media generally don't report suicides but when the string of tragedies in Palo Alto sparked local news coverage there was criticism that the reporting could bring more copycat deaths. "


I guess the people at C B S could care less as long as they get the ratings.

[jesusfreak4ever]

First of all you people need to remember these are children. Not adults committing suicide. I can't even imagine the grief the parents,friend, and family are feeling. This is completely awful. And, this can't be blamed on God. If you are not a believer in the Messiah Jesus Christ, then I pray you will change your ways before He comes back. There is no other explanation for humans except CREATION. And Jesus did come to earth in human form to sacrifice Himself for our transgressions. He is the only way we can be saved. We are born of flesh and sin and He is without sin. Every knee shall bow before our King one day and for everyone's sake I pray that it is not too late for them. I know that I am a true believer in Jesus Christ and He died and rose again. He is the Messiah and I will forever worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit..that is God, Jesus, and Jesus' Holy Spirit. Jesus is God. Believe people BELIEVE!!!

[bobnjersey]

[And Jesus did come to earth in human form to sacrifice Himself for our transgressions. ]

what transgressions were those? the transgressions that came from his own creation?

or was it the talking snake and the apple thing?

[This is completely awful. And, this can't be blamed on God. If you are not a believer in the Messiah Jesus Christ, then I pray you will change your ways before He comes back.]

so god created everyone and everything ... and he controls everything ... the train ... the high school ... the students ... and their choice to jump in front of the train because or their pressures in life ... or their mis-developed ability to deal with those pressures ... or the influence of satan ... or whatever? didn't he create all that too?

so he creates it all ... then sits back and lets these events torment everyone involved ... the students ... their parents ... their friends ... their teachers ... the train conductor, correct?

and it can't be blamed on god ... even though god is everything and everywhere?

can we blame it on the holy ghost ... you know ... the thing that's the same as god ... and jesus too?

is it all literal to you ... or do these characterizations outlined in the stories of the bible carry a higher meaning/message?

[galbraith45]

all these kids had really bad parents,that what they all have in common.the parents are murders in a weird kind of way

[willow013]

galbraith45: maybe those parents had really bad kids.

[spaceatoms]

The problem with society are the things we think are important, for example, you go to class and study hard and make good grades and then you go home and watch some stupid crime show where people are gunned down on a nightly basis and the suits think this is fun, colorful and exciting TV. Again, the brainwashing starts early and some kids just don't figure it out and with most people struggling daily and all the Wall Street hoopla, sometimes kids just don't get it. Your going to slap your leg as a distraction and call the kid a quitter because its the going trend, but the reality is its a Dr. Jeckly and Mr. Hyde society right now and it doesn't include all the facebook and Ipod salami!

[Giveypup]

It is the worst ignorance and naivete to assume that these children all came from disturbed homes or were using substance. This is an upper-middle class university town where parental and cultural expectation of their children is pathologically high. These kids can't do enough; they can't achieve enough. They are the soccer goalie, the first chair violin, the Valedictorian, and, somehow, it still all feels hollow and sham. They are like trained seals looking for the next parental applause, and when they get it (or don't), the emptiness and despair intensifies because they have nothing residing within that tells them that they have value behind their SAT scores and All-American athletic status.

There is an epidemic of high school students who look great on the outside and, in the therapist's office, roll up their sleeve to reveal the (carved) word--"empty."

I am a parent of a stressed-out, high school senior who goes to an overly-rigorous high school. She doesn't even have time to breathe, and her aim is to be a pediatric general surgeon, which she says, ruefully, will probably be an easier, more relaxed road than her high school.

We have put our foot down, and she has (finally) happily submitted to doing a "gap year"--whereby one gets in to college and defers enrollment for a year while the child can pursue a passion or employment or something besides being scrutinized by their peers, teachers, and parents.

[ubrew12]

I totally support gap years and tried, unsuccessfully, to argue my ex-wife into allowing such for my kids. I just observed that kids going to college directly from high school tended to carry 'high school', rather than 'real world', expectations to college. College is for real: you either find a vocation that works for you or you waste a HUGE amount of money and time. Take it slow, look around, and don't take the plunge until you are absolutely sure where you are going. Your daughters high school experience reminds me of my own kids' experiences.

[tmittelstaed]

Gap years originally used to be time served in the military. The way it used to work is you graduated from high school, put in your tour of duty in the military, then went to college. Going directly from high school to college was an idea that grew when college deferrments from the draft came in. Since we don't have the draft anymore, we really need to reexamine this idea of going from high school direct to college, it's not for everyone.

[johnnyglobal]

I've spent the last decade working to expand awareness of gap years and have seen over and over again the benefits, often transformative, that come with taking a year between high school and college to engage in some kind of meaningful, experiential, often service-oriented, real-world learning and growing.

[goffredo29]

Okay, first of all, journalists are the worst people to write about suicide. For them, the subject is seen as an invitation to practice one's creative writing skills. Secondly, I noticed so-called journalism experts (the Annenberg people, for example) recomending self-censoring. The biggest example of this in the CBS report was never mentioning the gender of the suicides: all boys. Why? They supposedly didn't want to encourage further suicides. Too late folks! We guys are conditioned practically from birth to think of suicide as an option in various circumstances. For example, would these boys have had to register with the Selective Service? Yes. And, what does that tell a boy? That his life is forfeit should the government ever deem it necessary. That's just one of the many ways the message is hammered into the male psyche. So what do we do? Well, we don't try to shame the kid into not killing himself. If you're thinking of taking your life, you're way beyond that. You have to deal with the individual as an individual and find out what that individual feels would make life worth living. Unfortunately, the suicide prevention professionals out there can only look at the individual as a function of social relationships and not as an individual. Intervention on a personal level would be to costly and inconvenient.

[tmittelstaed]

I never met a guy who didn't think life wasn't worth living after a good lay.

[Ichabod09]

"by tmittelstaed October 23, 2009 3:23 AM EDT
I never met a guy who didn't think life wasn't worth living after a good lay."


Guess ya never heard of child support have ya slick?

[mutnauq4842]

Lemmie see-the economy is going to crap, classroom environment is pretty much crap, marriages have pretty much gone to crap, and religion is either selling miracles/vitamins/or prosperity. And ditto on the environment.

With all that, the world politics appears just a little shaky or dangerous. Gee ya got me as to why the kids are losing interest in living?!

[Ichabod09]

by heuristic1 October 23, 2009 1:34 AM EDT
Oh go away for christ sake! No one needs your dopey, insensitive religious propaganda!

Uh...slick, two things If you'll read his post, you'll see that he mentions religion as part of the problem. Second, "Oh go away for christ sake"? Sound's like it ain't the mut that has a religious hangup.
Don't know what kinky thing you've got going on, you are apparently very touchy about it.

[chipsmydog]

Jesus IS the answer. There is no relevance to a persons existence outside of the love of God through Jesus Christ. He made us and we are made for Him. The disconnection from a vital and growing relationship with Jesus Christ is the most tragic and toxic existence.

Americans have been on a warpath against God and His Word for decades. The consequences of a God-less environment, especially in public schools does not create a neutral safe house. The choices are light and dark, hope and despair, meaning for being and loved by your Creator or irrelevant evolutionary humanistic nihilism.

Keep denying the existence of God and demanding the extermination of all references to Him and His Bible and then wring the hands and wonder why there is so much hatred, violence, and despair in America's youth. You can not have it both ways.

[jwesel1]

Jesus is a prophet like the ones before him and after him. He is a creation, not a creator.

[bobnjersey]

[There is no relevance to a persons existence outside of the love of God through Jesus Christ. ]

this is absolute nonsense. have you only read one book?

[Ichabod09]

"by heuristic1 October 23, 2009 1:35 AM EDT
S.hit on Jesus!"

heuristic-give it a rest, ya got buddha,mohammad,confuscious and a whole nother bunch of religious figures. You're more of a fanatic than the christians. Don't know what the monkey is on your back,but it definitely is eating you alive.

[Newster1]

there was criticism that the reporting could bring more copycat deaths. "


Oh brother, if someone is that screwed up that reading a story offs them, then adios amigo make space for the rest of the planet to breathe.

I think its great, need to get rid of the week, its natures way of making the speices stronger.

[cmcmillion]

Speaking of getting rid of the weak, how about we start with people who don't know the difference between "week" and "weak"?

[Virgil-1]

It's linked to all the drugs being feed to them before teenage years.

[stuart-johns2]

I love that sign in the picture:



THERE IS HELP
1-800-Suicide

Are they telling people to commit suicide? ;-)

Seriously, sad, sad commentary on California and America. Always is. Suicides always increase during tough economic times. And the drug use is'nt helping matters. The lack of stable family life is'nt helping. The garbage excuse for music these teens listen to is'nt helping and neither is television programming.

Alot of sheet needs attention.

[Virgil-1]

Hey!Get rid of the train!