Letters: A Teenagerâ€™s Suicide: What Can Be Learned?

Connect With Us on Twitter

For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.

Re "Questions About Missed Signs After a 15-Year-Old Boy's Suicide in Greenwich" (news article, Aug. 31):

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to-24-year-olds. Only accidents and homicides claim more lives in this age group.

Research demonstrates that most adolescents who commit suicide are struggling with untreated depression or other significant psychiatric disorders. In half of such cases, the signs and symptoms are present, but often undetected, for at least two years.

We also know that teenagers who are bullied are at increased risk for problems with depression and anxiety. Tragically, some victims of bullying even attempt suicide in an effort to escape the continuing harassment.

If parents suspect that their child may be thinking about suicide, they should get help. Ask your family doctor or school counselor for a referral to a trained and qualified mental health professional.

Early recognition and timely access to appropriate and effective treatment are critical to reducing the incidence of adolescent suicide.

DAVID FASSLER
Burlington, Vt., Sept. 1, 2013

The writer is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont.

To the Editor:

I am sad and furious to hear of the death of Bart Palosz. How many more bullying-related suicides must occur before all schools accept their fundamental responsibility to truly care for the children in their charge?

As your article described, district administrators were aware that Bart was being repeatedly hurt by other children in school. But they did not do enough to prevent the assaults or end them. Having the targeted child see school counselors is not a sufficient response. This child was severely bullied for seven years!

It is outrageous that, toward the end, his very public cries of pain and plans for death on social media were not met by the school district's determination to see him finally protected, and deeply embraced and supported. His death is not only a reflection of a school district's irresponsibility; it is also a crime. Bart Palosz's death was caused by institutional neglect.

STUART GREEN
Summit, N.J., Sept. 2, 2013

The writer is director of the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention.