Letter To The Editor: Teen Suicide

By now, we all know how the administration handled this most recent tragedy. They handled it in the same way as many before. Sweep it under the rug. Don't face the fact that our kids are being failed, that they don't feel safe. They treat suicide like it's their dirty little secret. If they don't talk about it, they don't have to face it.

This administration could be doing so much more to help our kids through the toughest years of their young lives. Instead, they continue to foster this culture of needing to be perfect. If you are not an athlete, honor student, Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival kid, you are nothing. If you are not taking five AP classes and getting into the best universities, you are nothing. If you are average, you are nothing. If you don’t fit in the SP box, you are nothing.

And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know what came first, the parents’ expectations for their kids or the administration’s. Regardless of where it stems from, it just continues in spite of these horrific events. It is a perpetual cycle that no number of suicide awareness programs will break. We need to be honest about the fact that although the majority of our kids don’t live up to the “Severna Park standard,” we continue to drink the Kool-Aid. We continue to put so much pressure on our kids. We continue to compete with each other over our kids’ successes. What we need to be doing is embracing their individuality and uniqueness, the way they treat others.

There has been a suicide almost every year since we moved here, be it a middle school or high school student, a Severna Park graduate or parent. We need to turn this around as a community. Today [March 11, the day of One Severna Park] was a beautiful example of just how to do that. I pray that the outpouring of love and support for all of our kids will continue to grow. I hope that after a week, a month and school year, we don't forget and slip back into our old ways. Above all, I want our kids to know that they are important. They matter. They are not alone. They are appreciated. They are loved.

Rebecca Binstock
Severna Park