KANSAS CITY, Mo. — September is Suicide Prevention Month, and KSHB 41’s Caroline Hogan spoke with mothers who say parents should talk to their kids about mental health every day.
Sarah Schroer also has a great relationship with her 16-year-old daughter, Ariana.
Arianna had heard about a child in another school district who had recently committed suicide and, although emotional, felt safe enough to go to her mother for advice.
Schroer is worried and doesn’t want the children to suffer any more.
“And as a parent, this is the worst thing I could imagine happening to my child,” Schroer said.
BJ Thomas Wilson and Sylvia Harrell also felt that pain.
Thomas Wilson lost his daughter Regan, and Harrell lost his son Chad, both of which happened in 2017.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear about this increase this late in the summer,” Harrell said.
Knowing all the resources they have and all the efforts they have made to help their children makes this news even more painful.
“It’s heartbreaking, where is this coming from,” Harrell said, “and we don’t know.”
Thomas Wilson explains that suicide creates a ripple effect.
“But what we’ve learned after losing children is that the attention is focused on those closest to them, but it creates ripples and affects anyone who knew that child or that family,” Thomas-Wilson said. “My question is, what are we doing to make sure all of these kids have a support system, because we don’t know if they knew that child or not.”
The pair are involved with a number of organisations working to raise awareness of mental health, including founding their own organisation, GiveMe20.
GiveMe20 asks kids to decorate a box and write on the inside of the box why life is worth living.
“It can be something very basic, like 10 things you like about yourself or someone promising to call you if you’re in trouble,” Thomas-Wilson said.
The strategy behind it is to get children to think about reasons for living rather than ending life.
Also, remind your children that it is important to talk to people with whom they feel comfortable.
“My biggest takeaway is that you have to assume that your child is going to struggle at some point,” Thomas-Wilson said. “You have to constantly be having conversations and constantly checking in.”
Schroer agrees that these conversations are crucial.
“If we don’t talk about it, it’s just going to keep happening,” Schroer said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Caroline Hogan covers developments in the Kansas City area. Share your story ideas with Caroline.
