Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The difficult thing with any of these school-related incidents is that we are only skimming the surface on information. All the information is provided by the parents and the media who are not bound by confidentiality. The detective's comment seems a little unprofessional on top of that.
As an administrator, I investigate a lot of "incidents" throughout the day. I keep an open mind until all the facts are in and try not to jump to conclusions. It seems as if the school incident is related to the suicide, but has that been proven? The suicide happened at home under the supervision of the parents. Is there abuse at home that would have played a factor and someone is looking for a scapegoat? There is no mention of a note left by the child, so we are guessing as to all the factors leading up the suicide.
At this point, all we know is that a tragedy has occurred. The easy way out is finding a scapegoat and then making ridiculous comments about what we would do to those "responsible" for this.
Administrators do not view cameras at all times and have many cameras that cover a school. Even finding an incident on a camera can take quite a bit of time and most of the time you only get a partial image or a blurry one at best. My guess is that someone found the student unconscious and assumed it was medical. When the administrator first heard about it, they probably heard someone had passed out, but someone was taking him to the nurse and the nurse had called the parent. Therefore, I'm assuming the administrator did not investigate this as a disciplinary issue.
The school recommended that the parent take the child to the hospital. It seems the parent disregarded this advice and just took him home. The child reported that his stomach hurt and he didn't know what happened. If a student told the school he didn't know what happened, his stomach hurt, and the first report from someone is that he "fainted", then I can see how an administrator would see this as a medical issue rather than disciplinary. The hospital reported that he was suffering from the stomach flu, not an attack from fellow students or bullying. I would assume this is after interviewing the child. These are medical professionals that would be better trained in suicide prevention than school personnel.
If school staff believe a student has suicidal tendencies, however small, they turn this over to medical professionals. I know that we require a doctor to release that student back to us after a psychological evaluation.
In my opinion, the school failed to identify this as a physical attack rather than a medical issue. However, I would hold the school, the parents, and the hospital all responsible for this suicide. The parents sent the child to school again 2 days after the restroom incident and the child was under their care when he committed this act. They also failed to take the child to the hospital immediately as recommended by school staff or identify suicidal tendencies in their child. The hospital released a child with suicidal tendencies to return back to school and failed to identify the attack, diagnosing the main issue as the stomach flu. The school failed to identify this as a disciplinary issue rather than medical and, it seems, failed to identify suicidal tendencies in this child.
My guess is that the child suffers from some kind of mental health issue in addition, which makes these cases very difficult. Unfortunately, many people dropped the ball in this kid's life and that is hard to face. It's easier to set up a scarecrow to fight and a common one is public education.
Another minor issue is the restroom at a school. Parents want their kids to go to the restroom any time they wish. However, restrooms are one of the few completely unsupervised areas. There are stories of mean teachers restricting restroom usage that are reported all the time in the news. So you can restrict restroom usage and increase safety or allow free reign to the restroom and have a completely unsafe area for students. You can't have both and schools don't have the funds to staff a monitor at each restroom the whole school day. Schools are stuck between a rock and a hard place with restroom use.
The difficult thing with any of these school-related incidents is that we are only skimming the surface on information. All the information is provided by the parents and the media who are not bound by confidentiality. The detective's comment seems a little unprofessional on top of that.
As an administrator, I investigate a lot of "incidents" throughout the day. I keep an open mind until all the facts are in and try not to jump to conclusions. It seems as if the school incident is related to the suicide, but has that been proven? The suicide happened at home under the supervision of the parents. Is there abuse at home that would have played a factor and someone is looking for a scapegoat? There is no mention of a note left by the child, so we are guessing as to all the factors leading up the suicide.
At this point, all we know is that a tragedy has occurred. The easy way out is finding a scapegoat and then making ridiculous comments about what we would do to those "responsible" for this.
Administrators do not view cameras at all times and have many cameras that cover a school. Even finding an incident on a camera can take quite a bit of time and most of the time you only get a partial image or a blurry one at best. My guess is that someone found the student unconscious and assumed it was medical. When the administrator first heard about it, they probably heard someone had passed out, but someone was taking him to the nurse and the nurse had called the parent. Therefore, I'm assuming the administrator did not investigate this as a disciplinary issue.
The school recommended that the parent take the child to the hospital. It seems the parent disregarded this advice and just took him home. The child reported that his stomach hurt and he didn't know what happened. If a student told the school he didn't know what happened, his stomach hurt, and the first report from someone is that he "fainted", then I can see how an administrator would see this as a medical issue rather than disciplinary. The hospital reported that he was suffering from the stomach flu, not an attack from fellow students or bullying. I would assume this is after interviewing the child. These are medical professionals that would be better trained in suicide prevention than school personnel.
If school staff believe a student has suicidal tendencies, however small, they turn this over to medical professionals. I know that we require a doctor to release that student back to us after a psychological evaluation.
In my opinion, the school failed to identify this as a physical attack rather than a medical issue. However, I would hold the school, the parents, and the hospital all responsible for this suicide. The parents sent the child to school again 2 days after the restroom incident and the child was under their care when he committed this act. They also failed to take the child to the hospital immediately as recommended by school staff or identify suicidal tendencies in their child. The hospital released a child with suicidal tendencies to return back to school and failed to identify the attack, diagnosing the main issue as the stomach flu. The school failed to identify this as a disciplinary issue rather than medical and, it seems, failed to identify suicidal tendencies in this child.
My guess is that the child suffers from some kind of mental health issue in addition, which makes these cases very difficult. Unfortunately, many people dropped the ball in this kid's life and that is hard to face. It's easier to set up a scarecrow to fight and a common one is public education.
Another minor issue is the restroom at a school. Parents want their kids to go to the restroom any time they wish. However, restrooms are one of the few completely unsupervised areas. There are stories of mean teachers restricting restroom usage that are reported all the time in the news. So you can restrict restroom usage and increase safety or allow free reign to the restroom and have a completely unsafe area for students. You can't have both and schools don't have the funds to staff a monitor at each restroom the whole school day. Schools are stuck between a rock and a hard place with restroom use.
Very impressive summary. You have given posters lots to think about.
Absolutely heart breaking. When are we finally going to do the right thing for the good of all our students and mandate single user bathrooms attached to every classroom? There are so many reasons to do this from cutting down class time missed to preventing students from being harmed.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Absolutely heart breaking. When are we finally going to do the right thing for the good of all our students and mandate single user bathrooms attached to every classroom? There are so many reasons to do this from cutting down class time missed to preventing students from being harmed.
I whole heartedly agree. It would solve so many issues, particularly related to a lack of supervision not only in bathrooms, but in hallways going to bathrooms. Vandalism in bathrooms was a major issue in our school. We even had one incident where a male student was found having sex with a girl in a stall in a bathroom well over an hour after school was dismissed. There's also the issue of "outsiders" entering school buildings and haunting school bathrooms.
Or, at the very least have several single user bathrooms in each hallway. Even that would be much easier to supervise.
Having group bathrooms makes about as much sense as common locker bays.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 01-01-2021 at 02:37 PM..
Reason: fixed typo, got rid of "anal" - an lewd, unnecessary detail
Oh, I feel like my heart has been crushed into a million pieces. What an incredibly sad story. That sweet young child ending his life like that...at 8 years old...there are no words. Thoughts for his family.
Saw the smiling photo of the child in that article and felt like bawling. I am heartbroken that he felt such despair that he hanged himself. I feel so sad for his family.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
