ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 11, 1997 TAG: 9704110067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM THE ROANOKE TIMES
It's unclear where the number came from, but it spread after it was repeated from the pulpit at a 15-year-old's funeral.
Ever since Sunday's funeral for a 15-year-old Lord Botetourt High School student who hanged himself, suicide has been the hot topic in Botetourt County.
Especially frightening to parents and children is a persistent rumor that 11 other Lord Botetourt students have tried to take their own lives since October.
It's a rumor that school officials, counselors and the sheriff say is wildly exaggerated.
Lord Botetourt Principal Jim Sledd said he and his staff know of only one suicide attempt prior to the death of the 15-year-old buried Sunday. Lynne McDowell, a counselor with Blue Ridge Community Services who frequently works at Lord Botetourt, said she can recall only that one incident also.
One William Clark Middle School student also attempted suicide this year.
Sledd said he doesn't believe there were other attempts. "It's inconceivable that we would not have heard about them," he said. The rumor mill "is such that when it happens, we hear about it."
Saying there have been 11 suicide attempts makes it "seem like an epidemic, and it's not," he said. "Lord Botetourt is a nurturing, caring school, and it looks like people come here and we do something terrible to them."
It's unclear where the number 11 came from, but it began to spread rapidly on Sunday after a youth minister repeated it from the pulpit at the 15-year-old's funeral. The teen-ager had written a suicide note before taking his life, Sheriff Reed Kelly said.
Jonge Tate, a 24-year-old Liberty University senior and a youth minister at Fincastle Baptist Church, said several parents and other youth ministers told him that figure during visitation at the funeral home.
Tate said Thursday he didn't try to substantiate the figure before he used it in his sermon to make a point that parents and students need to confront the problem of teen suicide. He said he qualified the figure as "just something he heard" when he repeated it.
By Wednesday, Tate's comment was published in The Fincastle Herald. It wasn't challenged in the Herald story by any other sources, and writer Judy Harper said she didn't check the figure with anyone other than Tate.
"I don't believe that unsubstantiated rumors should be repeated in large group settings or in print," Sledd said. "The facts are bad enough, but it's much more alarming with that number 11 out there."
Sledd said he's had calls from parents. Several people have also repeated the rumor to a reporter.
Tate said he now understands the number of attempts to be lower than what he said.
"I do apologize to the students and faculty at Lord Botetourt High School," he said. "This is not a Lord Botetourt problem. This is a problem of teen-agers in today's culture everywhere."
McDowell, of Blue Ridge Community Services, said having the inflated number out there isn't especially dangerous, but it makes the death of the 15-year-old who did commit suicide a more intensely frightening experience for Lord Botetourt students.
Diane Kelly, of the Mental Health Association of the Roanoke Valley, said people ought to get past the actual number of attempts and talk about the causes of teen suicide.
"One is too many," she said. "I'm not concerned that people are up in arms. They ought to be."
Parents are beginning to talk. Kelly said she gave a talk at Mill Creek Baptist Church this week on how to tell if a teen is considering suicide and how to prevent it.
Sunday at 6 p.m., McDowell and two other counselors will join with county ministers to give a seminar at Fincastle Church of the Transfiguration on suicide signs, the stages of grief and what a normal adolescence is like.
Many adolescents don't have enough experience to realize that many problems heal with time if they just let them, McDowell said.
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR
Here are some signs of adolescent depression, which can lead to suicide:
A change in eating and sleeping habits.
Unusual neglect of personal appearance.
A withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities.
Angry outbursts, increased "touchiness" and rebellious behavior.
Use of drugs or alcohol.
Violent or self-abusive behavior, including intentional reckless driving.
Preoccupation with death.
Some signs that a teen may be planning to commit suicide:
Verbal hints, like saying "I won't be a problem for you much longer," or "Nothing matters."
Putting affairs in order, such as giving away favorite possessions.
Becoming suddenly cheerful after a period of depression.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB