Report: "Facebook" teens talking suicide pack in wake of local deaths

Talk of suicide on "Facebook"

Within a month, two Kern Valley High School District students took their own lives in what has been described by people in the local area as "shocking" and "scary."

In the grocery store, the hospital, the gas stations, everyone in the Kern River Valley is talking about the suicides of two Kern Valley High School students.

Now, it has been reported to me that there has been "Facebook" chatter regarding, what one witness said, "killing themselves each Monday."

The young man who reported that teens are talking on facebook about killing themselves as well as doing it ritualistically, at a certain time, said he is concerned that some of his own friends may think that suicide is an answer to tough times.

Teens on phones, computers and netbooks

With so many ways for anyone to link to the internet, whether by cell phone, computer, netbooks, parents should be aware that there is talk of suicide, and keeping track of what your child is reading, who they are texting may help avoid any further tragedy.

My personal recommendation would be to simply talk to your child, teenager, about what sorts of message he or she is seeing on the internet in regard to the recent suicides here in the valley.

And many kids I have spoken to are both shocked and confused as to why such drastic things occurred to two young people they may have known or know of.

Right now there is little for anyone to be happy about as we see our country in the middle of its worst economic crisis since the great depression. We also see our once great country sliding back on education and opportunity for the next generation.

Remembering that being a teenager is no easy task anyway, and that there are many families struggling to put food on the table, I would think it would not be unusual to find the lost kids thinking of suicide as a possible, or even reasonable way of dealing with the world and its problems.

I've watched for years the generation with the grasp of computers and gadgets, music and games, some of them even were the creators of this blog, KVHD under Fire. They have heart and we need to watch out as there is uncertainty all around, and young people disenfranchised who may take messages of suicide seriously.

We cannot even fathom what the families are feeling

None of us can know what it feels like to lose a child to suicide, or in any way for that matter, if we haven't been there. It's unimaginable to most of us, such a great loss.

Aside from the fact that the deaths were suicides which we seem to think is reserved for what we judge to be "disturbed" people, young and old. These were both promising young people who had friends, family, and a future.

We can send out our heartfelt condolences, but we must not ignore the possiblity it could be any child at any time.

Stay alert and report any type of suggestion of suicide you may find on your child's computer or phones.

I will update this report and any information I have will be passed along to law enforcement immediately.