Students in Framingham Stressed, Sad, and Attempting Suicide

18 percent of middle school students and 27 percent of high school students in Framingham have felt “sad or hopeless” for more than two weeks, according to results of the more recent MetroWest Health Foundation’s adolescent survey.

And, 35 percent of high school students and 12 percent of Framingham middle school students said they were “very stressed.”

And at Framingham High, 15 percent of the students seriously considered and 6 percent attempted suicide. With a school population of about 2,075 students, that is roughly 125 students, who attempted suicide.

The survey was taken by students in the fall of 2014. The results, specifically for Framingham students, were unveiled last night, at the Framingham School Committee meeting by Framingham Public Schools Director of Health and Wellness Judith Styer.

At the middle school level, 12 percent of the students considered suicide and 4 percent attempted suicide, said Styer.

The statistics on suicide at Framingham High have not gone up since the last survey two years ago, but they have not gone down either.

Styer said the statistics were “very concerning.”

Framingham School Committee Chair Beverly Hugo said the statistics were “sobering” and “sad.”

Styer said there hasn’t been change, and the district has ”not made any progress.”

Eileen Davis, Director of the United Way of Tri County’s Call2Talk program said while it is concerning that the numbers have not gone down, it is good to see that the numbers have not risen.

Launched in December 2013, Call2Talk is United Way’s confidential, mental health and emotional support helpline.

Davis also heads the MetroWest Regional Coalition for Suicide Prevention, which was launched after the last survey results from the Foundation in 2014.

Styer said in regards to the stress rate, girls are more stressed than boys in the Framingham public school district.

Framingham is more stressed than the other communities in MetroWest, who participated in the survey, Styer told the School Committee.

Mental health continues to be of concern, said the Foundation in releasing the MetroWest wide results. twenty-six school districts participate.

The number of high school students who reported that life was “very stressful” in the past 30 days increased from 28.9 in 2012 to 34.9 in 2014, across MetroWest said the Foundation.

In spring 2014, the district released the results of the survey taken by Framingham students in October 2012.

According to the 2012 MetroWest Health Foundation’s MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey 14.8 percent of Framingham middle school students and 29.4 percent of Framingham High students said that life was stressful in the last 30 days.

In the fall of 2014, a couple of Framingham High students created a group called Students Advocating Against Stress and started a petition asking administration to make change to reduce stress and help students cope with mental health issues, and a lack of sleep.

“It is incredibly disappointing to me that in a district, which has had personal experience with suicide, there has been no significant response to the issue,” said Framingham High students representative to the School Committee Jake Binnall.

Binall was one of the students who founded Students Advocating Against Stress.. Today, he is a senior at the high school.

“In my opinion, the best ideas will come from the students themselves. That is why I initially started the petition and survey addressing student health. I think that we can learn a lot from Newton North’s response to student health, and should take a serious look at the proposals originally brought up by Students Advocating Against Stress. Those are ideas from the students, and to solve a student issue, input from students is essential. It is not that I think the district does not care, I just think that there needs to be a significant and clear effort to protect our students.”

Styer told the Framingham School Committee that her department, since the 2012 survey results were unveiled, has begun using the Benson-Henry mind-body health program out of Massachusetts General Hospital to help students deal with mental health issues.

She said two dozen staffers were trained and the program was implemented with targeted groups, including the Resiliency for Life program students and LGBT students. She said those students participate in 8-10 week sessions of mindmindfulness and meditation.

Former Framingham Town-Wide PTO president Kim Comatas said the “latest 2014 data showed MetroWest students are dealing with greater amounts of stress and that LGBTQ students are even more at risk for depression, considering suicide and attempting suicide.

Comatas said parents “heard confirmation of this in 2013 directly from Framingham High students. It was alarming and eye opening.”

She said shortly after that a New Yorker magazine had an article about the Crisis Text Line.

Comatas said she learned from the article that teens were using the free and anonymous text line to get help in times of crisis. They could text 741-741 and would be connected to a trained crisis counselor. The counselor would be someone who would listen, respond, and when appropriate share resources to those who texted in.

Comatas said after the last results she could not sit and do nothing, so she became trained as a Crisis Text Line counselor.

“Joining the Crisis Text Line community was the best way to achieve direct results with teens, who text in stressed, depressed, or suicidal at no cost to our school district,” said Comatas. “I completed the rigorous training last year and now ork a four-hour volunteer shift each week.”

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Editor’s Note: Framingham Patch will publish additional reports on the results of the MetroWest Health Foundation’s adolescent health survey and continue followup reports on these and all results.