Wednesday marked World Suicide Day and one mother is wondering why the Halifax Regional School Board isn’t using the occasion to discuss suicide with students.
Leah Parsons lost her 17-year-old daughter, Rehtaeh, to suicide in April 2013 and says she would like to talk about her experience in schools.
“You can’t expect everyone to get the support from home and they might not know where to get the support,” says Parsons. “It has to start in the schools.”
Parsons says this week, Suicide Awareness Week, is the perfect time for teachers to raise the subject in schools.
“I think professionals should go into the schools and talk to the kids, especially where it’s the beginning of the school year to talk about it,” she says.
School board spokesman Doug Hadley says this week will be like any other week and that mental health professionals warn there are risks involved with doing a stand-alone discussion on suicide for a day.
“Schools and the school board are very cautious in terms of, we recognize it’s a very important issue but ensure we don’t do harm to students who are very vulnerable,” says Hadley.
He says there is a great deal of education about suicide in schools, which falls under mental health issues.
“We have lots of support for mental health issues and we have professionals who are there to support the kids and be aware if any schools, any kids are experiencing difficulty,” says Hadley. “We then try to get the support they need.”
Parsons says students want to talk about suicide. She says the response is overwhelming whenever she posts suicide-related material on her Facebook page.
“I do know of kids that have gone to school administration and been told if it happened, come back again, tell me again. Well, they just told you,” she says. “The responsibility shouldn’t be on the kids.”
Hadley says 300 teachers are trained to watch for signs of mental health issues and Stand up to Bullying Day will be held in schools across Nova Scotia on Thursday.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant
