As a teacher, you have many children that become your kids. You do all that you can to do what is best and right for them and them you send them onto the next grade hoping that someone will continue to look after them. Some will keep in touch, others you meet again on a chance encounter, some you never here from again, and a few times some of them will appear in the news.
One such news encounter left me speechless and a little heart broken, when I found out that a former student had committed suicide. I wonder when the process got broken. What altered this young man so much in four short years to make this choice? A young man whom seemed like he was going to make it. A young man who was kind, caring, perhaps a little mischievous, but still a good kid.
It also leaves you wondering, what more could I have done? Was there something that I didn't do? Or worse yet, did I play a part in what led to this choice? I think that is what suicide does for the survivors. It makes them question themselves in hope for finding answers that are no longer there.
- Becky Acheson; Middle School Teacher
One such news encounter left me speechless and a little heart broken, when I found out that a former student had committed suicide. I wonder when the process got broken. What altered this young man so much in four short years to make this choice? A young man whom seemed like he was going to make it. A young man who was kind, caring, perhaps a little mischievous, but still a good kid.
It also leaves you wondering, what more could I have done? Was there something that I didn't do? Or worse yet, did I play a part in what led to this choice? I think that is what suicide does for the survivors. It makes them question themselves in hope for finding answers that are no longer there.
- Becky Acheson; Middle School Teacher