Rockwall ISD to host forum on teenage suicide after two recent deaths
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By TASHA TSIAPERAS
Staff Writer
Published: 02 June 2013 10:41 PM
Updated: 02 June 2013 10:43 PM
Brianna Escobedo
Hanna Clark
ROCKWALL — Teenagers are notoriously moody — cheerful one day and
holed up in their rooms the next. But that moodiness can mask the
warning signs for suicide.
After two students killed themselves in recent weeks, Rockwall ISD is hoping to educate parents about what to look for in a forum Tuesday night at Rockwall High School Performing Arts Center.
Christina Harrison didn’t see any such signs. Her daughter, Utley Middle School eighth-grader Brianna Escobedo, 14, fatally shot herself May 22.
“She was full of life. She always had a smile on her face and was always making everybody else happy,” Harrison said. “It’s still really hard to wrap my mind around it.”
Brianna’s death came less than a month after Rockwall High School freshman Hanna Clark’s in late April.
After both suicides, counselors were sent to schools to help classmates cope with what happened. Now, with Tuesday’s discussion, the district is reaching out to parents.
Rockwall ISD hosted a meeting on suicide in the fall, but only seven parents attended, district spokeswoman Sheri Fowler said. This week’s forum already has generated enough interest to change the location to a larger space, she said.
“Even if you don’t think your child is suffering in any way, it’s good to know what the signs are … and what to do if you see your child struggling,” Fowler said.
“She scored touchdowns and tackled the boys,” she said.
She tried cheerleading but decided it wasn’t fast-paced enough for her. Most recently, she played basketball at Utley.
For nearly two weeks, Harrison has been going through her daughter’s belongings to try to make sense of the death. She says she still hasn’t found anything to explain what pushed Brianna to take her own life.
“The first day I wanted to find something to push all that anger to and be mad, but there’s nothing to blame this on,” Harrison said.
Harrison has gone through her daughter’s social media pages, text messages, notes and doodles in her bedroom. Nothing stands out as a possible hint.
“Everything is just so positive and so happy and upbeat. And it’s just, where’s the sign? The sign that everybody tells me is supposed to be there.”
Sometimes the signs aren’t obvious to parents. It often takes a network of people to recognize when someone might be considering suicide, said Chris Green, a Rockwall family counselor who will speak at Tuesday’s forum.
Suicide can be a mix of impulsiveness and depression, he said. One of the best indicators is if the teen begins to pull away from relatives, friends or teachers.
Also, parents need to understand that one suicide can follow another.
“When one student makes a decision to go down a path of suicide, it makes it a little bit easier for the next student,” Green said.
Tim and Raina Clark texted their daughter from the grocery store April 25 to ask whether she wanted anything. She promptly responded. But when they came home a half-hour later, they found Hanna dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. There was no note.
“We never saw it,” Tim Clark said. “Of course there’d be times that she’d be a little moody every so often. But what teenager’s not?”
She was “the happiest person you’d ever see, always goofing off, always laughing.”
Since her death, the Clarks have discovered that their daughter had split with her boyfriend a day or two before her death. They know from text messages that she seemed distraught about the breakup.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this was an impulse suicide,” Tim Clark said. “It has been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare, because she was everything to us. She was so full of life.”
The family hopes Hanna’s death will encourage parents to talk openly with their children about suicide. They say they plan to start a foundation in her honor.
“You can have the best child in the world, but something that just overcomes them, they don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Tim Clark said. “If it can happen to us, it can happen to anybody.”
Rockwall ISD will host Just Talk About It — An open conversation about depression and suicide.
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: Rockwall High School Performing Arts Center, 1201 T.L. Townsend Drive in Rockwall
WHO: The forum is open to anyone.
SPEAKERS: Missy Wall, a certified social worker and director of Teen CONTACT, a help line for teenagers struggling with depression and harmful behavior; Chris Green, a Rockwall family counselor.
After two students killed themselves in recent weeks, Rockwall ISD is hoping to educate parents about what to look for in a forum Tuesday night at Rockwall High School Performing Arts Center.
Christina Harrison didn’t see any such signs. Her daughter, Utley Middle School eighth-grader Brianna Escobedo, 14, fatally shot herself May 22.
“She was full of life. She always had a smile on her face and was always making everybody else happy,” Harrison said. “It’s still really hard to wrap my mind around it.”
Brianna’s death came less than a month after Rockwall High School freshman Hanna Clark’s in late April.
After both suicides, counselors were sent to schools to help classmates cope with what happened. Now, with Tuesday’s discussion, the district is reaching out to parents.
Rockwall ISD hosted a meeting on suicide in the fall, but only seven parents attended, district spokeswoman Sheri Fowler said. This week’s forum already has generated enough interest to change the location to a larger space, she said.
“Even if you don’t think your child is suffering in any way, it’s good to know what the signs are … and what to do if you see your child struggling,” Fowler said.
‘Where’s the sign?’
Brianna loved sports. As a child, she played football on the Caddo Mills youth team, Harrison said.“She scored touchdowns and tackled the boys,” she said.
She tried cheerleading but decided it wasn’t fast-paced enough for her. Most recently, she played basketball at Utley.
For nearly two weeks, Harrison has been going through her daughter’s belongings to try to make sense of the death. She says she still hasn’t found anything to explain what pushed Brianna to take her own life.
“The first day I wanted to find something to push all that anger to and be mad, but there’s nothing to blame this on,” Harrison said.
Harrison has gone through her daughter’s social media pages, text messages, notes and doodles in her bedroom. Nothing stands out as a possible hint.
“Everything is just so positive and so happy and upbeat. And it’s just, where’s the sign? The sign that everybody tells me is supposed to be there.”
Sometimes the signs aren’t obvious to parents. It often takes a network of people to recognize when someone might be considering suicide, said Chris Green, a Rockwall family counselor who will speak at Tuesday’s forum.
Suicide can be a mix of impulsiveness and depression, he said. One of the best indicators is if the teen begins to pull away from relatives, friends or teachers.
Also, parents need to understand that one suicide can follow another.
“When one student makes a decision to go down a path of suicide, it makes it a little bit easier for the next student,” Green said.
No note
Hanna, 15, was on the school’s volleyball team. Her parents say she was always smiling and happy.Tim and Raina Clark texted their daughter from the grocery store April 25 to ask whether she wanted anything. She promptly responded. But when they came home a half-hour later, they found Hanna dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. There was no note.
“We never saw it,” Tim Clark said. “Of course there’d be times that she’d be a little moody every so often. But what teenager’s not?”
She was “the happiest person you’d ever see, always goofing off, always laughing.”
Since her death, the Clarks have discovered that their daughter had split with her boyfriend a day or two before her death. They know from text messages that she seemed distraught about the breakup.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this was an impulse suicide,” Tim Clark said. “It has been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare, because she was everything to us. She was so full of life.”
The family hopes Hanna’s death will encourage parents to talk openly with their children about suicide. They say they plan to start a foundation in her honor.
“You can have the best child in the world, but something that just overcomes them, they don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Tim Clark said. “If it can happen to us, it can happen to anybody.”
Rockwall ISD will host Just Talk About It — An open conversation about depression and suicide.
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: Rockwall High School Performing Arts Center, 1201 T.L. Townsend Drive in Rockwall
WHO: The forum is open to anyone.
SPEAKERS: Missy Wall, a certified social worker and director of Teen CONTACT, a help line for teenagers struggling with depression and harmful behavior; Chris Green, a Rockwall family counselor.
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