European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 12, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 after Cluster of teen Ager death piano Texas pacesetter in suicide prevention by Scott Mccartney associated press t he Lone student on the poster slouches against a locker in a darkened High school hallway his lips Dow turned his look despondent. The student is a grim Symbol of some of the darkest Days in this Concrete Prairie of new people and new Homes Days when eight teen agers killed themselves with gun shots Carbon monoxide and a rope noose. Days when piano prodded the National conscience. But the poster has become piano s red badge of courage displayed proudly around town. Two years since the suicide crisis eased this suburban Dallas boo town has become a Model for other cities a pacesetter in effective suicide prevention programs experts say. The academic pressure and the social pressure on kids is much much greater today especially in communities like piano where you have essentially the Cream of the crop said Carole Steele a mental health Counselor. Piano was Ripe for  what piano found was that other communities were Ripe too and when the Cluster suicide phenomenon struck Calls of help came in from around the country. I be talked with More than 470 school districts in 47 states said Larry d. Guinn director of student services for the piano schools. This literally is a nationwide problem that kind of snuck up on  according to the american Academy of paediatrics 6,000 teen agers or Young adults killed themselves in 1984 one every nine minutes making it the third leading cause of death in that age group. From february to August 1983, six piano youths killed themselves including three in one week. One was upset about the drag race death of a Friend another about his Friend s suicide. One was heartbroken about losing a Girlfriend and one could t stand the pressure of school and a time consuming Romance. Two sweethearts died together rather than live apart. Nine months later the toll had risen to eight. It was tense said Michele Sanders then a piano High school Junior. A lot of people knew people who had committed suicide and knew something had to be done to make the school a friendlier  piano Laid out on once Flat Barren Plains today is a mixture of Texas Cowboy past and its High stepping Urban present. The population has exploded from 17,872 in 1970 to More than 100,000 today. More than 200 new students enrol in High school every year. Guinn was associate principal at the 2,000 student piano High school when the suicides began. I asked myself what can i do these Are my students. This is my school " he recalled. Seventy specialists were consulted but Guinn relied More on common sense and a teacher s intuition in launching simple Low Cost teen age crisis programs some of which were students ideas. One program students working All together targeted newly transferred or depressed individuals and assigned swat team members to befriend them. Sanders a recent transplant from Ohio became a swat team Leader. We just did everything we could to try to change the school. We even had a swat team Rule that if you made Eye Contact with someone you had to speak to them she said. It did make a Erma Bombeck o Kall of you mothers out there and you Al know who you Areline up and  Many of you have received gifts from your children that you have stored away and never used i see the Mother who received a Frog playing the Banjo has her hand up. And the Mother whose twins bought her hoop earrings lit by batteries. And what about the Mother whose son bought her a religious picture made out of bottle Caps at a garage Sale c Mon dear up up up we Veall been there. We like to think our image would be one that would be rewarded with taste and style. This is not usually the Case. Recently i suffered an acute guilt attack and brought out All the treasures of Mother s Day Christmas birthday past and spread them out before me. There was the Irma doll. It s about 10 inches High and was purchased by one of my children for me on a trip to Mexico. The Story is it s a copy of the dolls used by prostitutes to put in a window so that a prospective partner can simply Point to the doll of his Choice. This one has Black hair Pink Cheeks and Irma printed across the Chest of her Lavender underwear. He thought the coincidence was amusing. There s a piece of Tapa cloth that measures 20 by 16 feet. Because of its religious significance it cannot be used to walk on. The Only Wall it would fit is possibly the great Wall of China. It has been stored for six years. The Bright purple sweater with two poodles dancing with one another is a Cardigan. The poodles have sequined eyes and tails. One of my kids thought it would bring Back memories of the 50s. A Large chunk of Wax that weighs about 20 pounds came with a Candle making kit. Every time during the last 10 years when we open a cupboard door and the chunk of Wax Falls out my husband asks the same question what is this and Why Are we keeping it every year since i received it the Box of Bikini difference. I saw the  the school District expanded the concept to adult swat teams for parents new to town and began voluntary after school academic workshops to offer Low pressure opportunities for achievement. You have to have one on one  Guinn said. You have to get at the Root causes of the depression rather than the  on their own students formed a program called bionic for believe it or not i care that dispatched volunteers with get Well greetings to fellow students and formed anti drug and alcoholism groups. It All worked experts say because simple measures can go a Long Way. The last recorded youth suicide in piano was May 12, 1984, according to police records. The solution to this problem is relatively simple to provide outlets said or. Joe m. Sanders chairman of the american Academy of pediatrics1 committee on adolescence. The main thing we need to do is give All kids a resource someone non threatening they can go  recently two youths Kille d themselves in Alexandria la., bringing a plea for piano s help. Two weeks after Guinn held meetings there committees were implementing his suggestions Alexandria schools supt. E. A. Nichols said. Experts believe suicides sometimes come in clusters because one suicide May break Down barriers to others. Three youths killed themselves in suburban Milwaukee in 1982. Six teens killed themselves in a 2v? month period in 1983 in Clear Lake Texas a Houston suburb. And in Richardson Texas next door to piano five youths have committed suicide in the past 12 months three of them in three weeks. Teen agers Are very impressionable said or. George Comerci an expert on adolescence at the University of Arizona. They see one of their Peers do it and they see people feel sorry for them. They see the school in grief and then it becomes acceptable an attractive  As Guinn and the piano students worked on the problem citizens were trying to set up a 24-hour crisis hotline. They had been working on the hotline since a series of rapes in 1980 but could t raise the Money. Within six months of the suicides they had $100,000. People were falling Over each other to give Money at that Point said Steele executive director of the piano crisis Center. The Center opened feb. 1, 1984, and fielded 1,870 Calls in its first 11 months. In 1985, 4,275 Calls came in 30 percent of them from Young people. The Center has Given the teen agers an outlet said Barbara Hoff whose 18-year-old son was the last of the eight suicide victims. Hoff and other victims parents have helped raise Money for the Center and have talked with survivors of suicide attempts. It really has helped me a lot she said. Suicide is something you Don t talk about. People Don t want to talk about your child. But you need to talk about it. That s the place where you can talk about  As suicide faded into the background of concerns last year donations slowed leaving the Center Short of Money. We went on a new Campaign and said hey do we need to go Back and have More suicides and the funding picked Back up right away Steele said. But nobody in piano believes its problems Are Over Guinn said. I think it s something that could rear its ugly head up at anytime. We Don t say we be whipped our problem because Well never whip our problem. We re not Utopia but we re  underwear has been taken out of the Box thought about then returned to the Box. I keep thinking there is something i could use them for. Folded once they would make great coasters for drinks but they re too Slippery. A slim possibility looms that perhaps one Day they might fit a grandchild. Who is toilet trained at three months. There s a needlepoint kit showing a scene of two persians fighting in Baghdad. It s a wonderful gift for someone who joins a religious order dedicated Only to prayer and needlepoint. I finished one Saber and my vision was blurred for months. Why do i keep this Pandora s Box of Memorabilia Why Don t i just pitch it and get on with my life if you have to ask Don t Call yourself a Mother. We re the original keepers of baby Teeth hands that have been traced and framed cards made out of construction paper and Little baskets holding 15-year-old Jelly Beans. Besides maybe i la put the Irma doll in the window and see what happens. You never know. C 1986 us Angeles times Syndicate