Student activists and survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting from 2018 are demanding action from the school board after a second person has committed suicide just this week.
Hollywood Life is reporting that Saturday, a second survivor of the Parkland shooting, a minor (sophomore male), took his life just days after the suicide death of Sydney Aiello, who graduated last year.
Coral Springs police spokesman Tyler Reik confirmed that a student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School died yesterday of an “apparent suicide.”
Now, student activists like shooting survivor David Hogg are demanding that the school do more to help survivors deal with anxiety and depression that remain as a result of the tragic school shooting.
“We’re currently in a time where students are reporting record high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.”
Directly following the shooting, resources were made available to all students, but obviously, this isn’t enough if mental health concerns continue to linger to the point that students are still suicidal a year later, says Hogg.
“Our schools need serious mental health funding and proper guidance counselors that aren’t just paid schedulers but are ACTUAL guidance counselors.”
Second Parkland shooting survivor commits suicide within span of a week https://t.co/UgPmBGpveO pic.twitter.com/1hXN6Yo1Ws
— New York Post (@nypost) March 24, 2019
Kenneth Preston, a Parkland journalist, took to Twitter to complain about the inaction from the school district and the school board, which seem to be turning a deaf ear to the cries for help from their community.
“ONE DAY after we attended Sydney’s burial, a 2nd Stoneman Douglas survivor has taken his life. School Board, it’s time to provide the help and services you’ve neglected to provide FOR A YEAR! It makes me angry how incredibly preventable this was.”
The Washington Post says that these two suicides have taken place around the one year anniversary of the March For Our Lives event which took place in Washington, D.C. in an effort to educate and inform the public about gun violence. Students like David Hogg are asking how many more children have to take their own lives before someone intervenes.
Sydney Aiello was said to be still despondent about her best friend Meadow Pollack’s death in the school shooting, suffering “survivor’s guilt that she survived and Pollack didn’t.”
The community wants the school board to provide additional resources in an effort to identify those who are still struggling, especially when anniversaries approach.
To reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255.) You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging 741741.
