Some parents at Middle Valley Elementary School have expressed concern after their children were shown a video to train them on suicide prevention and awareness. (Image: WTVC)
Suicide is a topic school systems all too often are forced to tackle. However, the father of a 4th grader at Middle Valley Elementary said the school crossed the line when they showed a certain video.
The video, which you can watch below, tells the story of a young teen who is being bullied. At the end, it shows her step in front of a train to take her own life.
One Middle Valley parent said the video made his daughter so upset, she has not gone back to school since she saw it.
The man tells us the video shown to his daughter is called "A Moment Too Late | A Short Bullying Film (2018)". He called the short film "graphic," and that his daughter has been crying for two days. He says he was given no prior notification that the video would be shown.
After we posted this story on our Facebook page, viewers posted comments that started a bigger conversation: Should young students be taught about suicide at all?
So, we reached out to the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network and the Hamilton County School District to figure out how this started.
After school on Friday, Middle Valley Elementary met to show parents that video.
The video raised concerns. Some folks questioned how appropriate the video was for such young kids and others thought it was introducing suicide to children that don't need to know what suicide is yet.
“The sad reality is that it is effecting kids who are that young. Suicide is the first leading cause of death for youth 10-17,” said Rachel Gearinger from the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, said we need to be talking to young kids about suicide.
She said there is this misconception with society that keeps people from talking about it.
“If we talk about suicide, we're gonna plant that idea in someone’s head and that is a completely false idea,” said Gearinger.
We reached out to both the school district and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
School spokesman Tim Hensley said that he has spoken with Middle Valley Elementary Principal Allyson DeYoung, and Hensley confirmed that the video shown "was part if a presentation by the school SRO." Hensley says the approval process for presentations, especially those of a sensitive nature, is to coordinate between school administration and the sheriff's office. He says the sheriff's office is looking into the incident.
HCSO spokesman Matt Lea gave the following statement:
“The HCSO has been made aware that some concerns were raised by parents of children at Middle Valley Elementary after an SRO delivered a training on Childhood Suicide Prevention to a group of students. The HCSO School Resource Officer Division is working with the HCDE to discuss any concerns from both school administrators and/or parents in order to ensure this type of training is conducive and beneficial to all students particularly due to the sensitive nature of the topic the training seeks to address.
The HCSO would like to remind our community that each day in schools throughout the HCDE system, our as part of their role and responsibilities, SRO’s teach trainings that address a variety of sensitive topics from the importance of leadership and being responsible citizens to bullying prevention and awareness, how to respond to law enforcement personnel after being pulled over, and drug abuse awareness. Each of these classes, and many others, are designed to help give children/students the tools and insight to grow up to be responsible, law abiding citizens.”
While Gearinger didn't say whether the video was age appropriate or not, she did say the connection between bullying and suicide is a huge issue that also needs to be talked about.
“Parents start that conversation with their children and children know that they can go to their parents if they're worried about themselves or someone else you know, those are the things that we want to encourage,” said Gearinger.
Rachel Gearinger said the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network teaches people to be Gatekeepers- that is someone who can recognize warnings signs and get people help.
She said those gatekeepers should be people who work with children like teachers, school administrators, community groups and parents.
The father tells us a school meeting is being held Friday afternoon and Monday morning to show parents the video and answer any questions they have.
If you or someone you love is struggling, please know you don't have to face it alone. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to talk to a person who cares and can help at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You can also go here. The lifeline provides free, confidential and emotional support to people in crisis or emotional distress.
Depend on us to update you as we learn more.
"graphic" - Google News
November 22, 2019 at 08:30PM
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Hamilton County man upset after 4th grade daughter shown 'graphic' suicide awareness video - WTVC
"graphic" - Google News
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