Conversely, most teens who commit suicide live at home the fact that your kid lives with you does not guarantee, unfortunately, that you will be able to recognize signs of depression and prevent a tragedy.Ĭertainly drugs and alcohol exist at any school and any community. It’s natural for parents to feel that if THEY are not keeping an eye on their kid, then nobody is but that does not reflect the reality of boarding schools. But it seems to me that kids are watched much more carefully here than at any other school where I have taught. In short, tragedies can and do happen, whether kids are in boarding school or living at home. And I’m constantly impressed with the professionalism and dedication of our school psychologist and counselors. Īs an adviser, I often receive e-mails from coaches and teachers when they note anything at all suggesting a potential problem as a teacher, I never hesitate to contact advisers of students in my class in similar situations. A number of times I’ve been involved in cases in which a student did something that could, maybe, potentially, remotely, suggest a problem, and in no time you had a flurry of e-mails and phone calls involving the kid’s adviser, teachers, coaches, Deans, and the school’s health professionals, all following up and communicating often with the outcome that, well, there was really nothing there. What I can say about Exeter is that I’m constantly impressed with the amount of attention that adults pay to kids here. I’ve heard several stories that would devastate any adult, let alone a teenager. It’s also important to remember that not all boarding school suicide attempts are related to the school. I found the whole community to be very caring and know that if something happened, there would be a strong support system in place. Boarding schools have several full time psychologists and medical doctors for any situation that arises. Additional steps may be taken if deemed appropriate. If their behavior changes they will contact other adults who have contact with the student and have a discussion with the student to see if anything is going on. They all care about how a student is doing in the classroom and outside. There are many different adults to look out for signs of depression - teachers, coaches, advisers, house counselors, etc. That’s not to say that drugs or alcohol are rare, but students think more about the risks.īoarding schools are definitely aware of how its students are behaving. Boarding schools also attract students who aren’t interested in that scene whether it’s in high school or later in life. I think many students realize they have more to lose by going to private school and therefore keep that behavior at home. I would say its less prevalent in boarding school students during the school year. I wonder how much the top boarding schools are seriously watching out for signs of clinical depression among their students? (“Seriously” being the key word there!) Does anyone here have any good insights on that?Īfter reading this thread I have several thoughts I’d like to add.ĭrugs and alcohol exist in any high school. Even Andover’s 2% (~22 students) is a terribly frightening thing to ponder. Is chemical abuse any less of a problem at the better boarding schools than at the better public schools?Īll of these are really scary numbers. Someplace on SADD, I noted that suicide attempts are also significantly higher among high school students using alcohol and/or drugs. Overall, the rate is significantly higher (~50% higher) for girls than for boys. Some state-by state 2007 statistics on high school students attempting suicide are as follows: Maine 4.8%, New Hampshire 5.5%, Vermont 5.5%, Massachusetts 7.6%, Connecticut 9.8%, and Boston 10.4%. According to CDC 2007 statististics, the percentage of students who actually ATTEMPTED suicide was 6.9%. From SADD, I believe that the 16.9% figure is the percentage of high school students who CONSIDERED attempting suicide.
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