‘Our Students are in Crisis’
Susan Tellone, Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, this morning told the Senate Education Committee, “Our students are in crisis.”
In the aftermath of Adriana Kuch’s suicide last month, Tellone spoke at the invitation of the committee in response to the significant uprise in teen suicide, especially among girls.
“Whatever we decide to do we need to think about what works in schools,” Tellone told the committee.
“The U.S. suicide rate among 15-to-24-year-olds grew by 7% in 2021, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” according to a report this week in NJ.com. “And several New Jersey hospital networks reported their emergency rooms were flooded in 2022 with anxious, depressed and suicidal teens.”
“I’ve never seen it like this [in 40 years in the profession as a nurse],” Tellone said.
She wants to see an increase in the school workforce, an increase in salaries, education and training.
But the problem is big, she conceded, very big.
“What has caused [the crisis]?’ state Senator Shirley Turner (D-15) wanted to know.
Tellone mentioned constant stimulation from social media and the political climate, including constant school shootings.
Mary Abrams of New Jersey Association of Mental Health & Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) added that the COVID-19 pandemic added trauma to young lives on the scale of a world war.
Why girls specifically, Turner wanted to know.
“It’s just a social thing, a more fragile thing girls are going through, as opposed to young boys who are hiding it,” Abrams said.
Joseph Isola, Superintendent of Howell Township Public urged the committee, “Don’t bombard us with meaningless legislation. We can’t get caught up with compliance. We must, however, figure out how to deliver services that will save lives.”
The Senate Education Committee held its hearing today on mental health on the heels of a catastrophic event.
The shocking death of 14-year-old Adriana Kuch in Ocean County galvanized parents and youth intent on stopping the increasingly common practice of adolescents assaulting other adolescents, recording their heinous crime for fun, and attempting to shame their victims.
In this case, cowardly, attention-seeking, violent youths ambushed Ms. Kuch in the hallway of Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, beat her, and later posted the video on Tik Tok to make a public spectacle of her agony.
Amid the onslaught of inhumane and frequently anonymous social media abuse, Ms. Kuch died by her own hand.
Another meaningless committee with Senator Shirley Turner asking what is causing an increase in school suicide and violence.
Susan Tellone wants an increase in workforce, salaries, education and training. In other words, throw more taxpayer money at the problems. This is not the answer.
We need to get back to real teaching, both at home and in the classrooms.
Let’s get kids to get away from Tick Tok and other useless computer websites. Put the cell phones down.
More parental involvement is needed, although our schools are more interested in marginalizing parents.
Punish those who assault other students severely. Teach children respect for others, elders, authority such as police.
Get back to reading, writing, math, science, computer science, history (true American history, not LGBTQ garbage, gender studies, gender identity, etc.).
Let’s teach civics, economics, government and the US Constitution, American exceptionalism, home economics. Without imposing specific religious instruction, exposure to religious tenants and morality would be beneficial.
Well said. Common sense.
There shouldn’t be one more dime spent on education in this state. We already spend almost $25 BILLION DOLLARS on education in New Jersey (which is 50% of the entire State budget). And, we taxpayers are getting shafted for it. Democrats are running the legislature and executive branch (Governor’s office). Most of the money is going to urban school districts (run by Democrats), and suburban districts (mostly run by Republicans) are getting screwed out of education funds.
We already have enough money to address these problems, but politicians and school administrators are using it for anything but is needed. They are using it for their pet political projects or promoting socialist propaganda programs like CRT and LGBTQ+ in the schools where they have no authority or right to be put into our schools. Schools are for learning reading, writing, math, history (U.S. & World), sciences, English, English Lit. That’s what the NJ Constitution calls for. The Constitution’s guarantee must be understood to embrace that educational opportunity which is needed in the contemporary setting to equip a child for his role as a citizen and as a competitor in the labor market. In other words, children need to able to function in society. That means they must be proficient in reading, writing, math, sciences, US & World History, English and English Lit. Anything else is unconstitutional and should be stricken from any state imposed curriculum as violating the funding scheme of education.
Doing nothing is not a solution.
Were the students in Ms. Kuch’s attack charged by the police for the assault? Expelled from Central High ? Does Central High have a police officer assigned to the campus?
Ms. Kuch death is a tragedy….. but suicide prevention starts in the home not in the classroom. Our educational system has been greatly compromised by having cellphones in schools.
The mental health experts did little to oppose the medical tyrants that shoved the lockdowns down the throats of the public.. So why listen to them now?