Suicide among military-connected youth a growing concern

[unhappycamper]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/11/14/1296347?sac=fo.military

Suicide among military-connected youth a growing concern
By Steve DeVane
Published: 06:54 AM, Fri Nov 15, 2013

School officials say they know suicide among students with military ties is a problem, even without research to show it.

Three staff members from Cumberland County schools led a workshop on suicide prevention among military students Thursday during the fourth annual Forward March conference at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. The meeting, which continues today, focuses on challenges faced by military families.

Anna Rodriguez, the military child and family liaison for the school system, said she did research on the Internet and called Fort Bragg officials looking for data on the number of suicides by students connected to the military.

~snip~

Joyce Wessel Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association, said Congress is expected to tell the Department of Defense to study suicides among the families of military troops.

[Victor_c3]

1. the wars that keep on giving

When I was in the Army, my wife used to work as a special education assistant at the local elementary school on our base. She recounted me several stories about kids coming to school with serious emotional problems as a result of one of their parents being deployed to a war zone then coming back with their own issues. Children, spouses, and other family members are prone to what is called "secondary PTSD".

This was in 2005-2006 or so. I would imagine that, 7 years later, that the problem hasn't gotten any better as more children had parents broken down by multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's all the price we pay for freedom. Oh wait, these wars were nothing about protecting our freedom. I take that back.