BOISE, Idaho — The Boise School District has experienced multiple suicides this year. Each death impacts the entire BSD community.
- Megan Egbert is a Boise School District parent. Her Children each have experiences with suicide in their life. She says parents need to continue to talk about this difficult topic with their children, because it is a matter of life and death.
- Hannah Crumrine is the Youth Suicide Prevention coordinator for the Idaho State Board of Education. Her program offers resources to school districts statewide to combat suicide.
- If you or someone you know is in crisis, please dial 9-8-8, which is the Suicide and Crisis prevention hot-line. You can also visit the Idaho Youth Suicide Prevention Program website.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
The recent news of multiple suicides in the Boise School district this year hit Megan Egbert hard.
She’s a Boise School District parent who’s child survived a suicide attempt.
“I was thrown into a world that no parent wants to be a part of," Egbert told Idaho News 6.
Both of her other children have had friends die by suicide, including one this year.
She says no one is alone in this epidemic.
"I think so many of us are dealing with right now, but we just don’t realize that it’s not in a silo, this is happening everywhere," Egbert said.
The state of Idaho has consistently ranked high in suicide rate.
In 2020, it was fifth in the country. In 2021, it moved down to twelfth.
Egbert told me, as hard as the discussion is, it is one that needs to be talked about. She practices that in her own home.
“It’s not something that we talk about once, it’s something that we talk about all the time, and it’s something we have to have a plan for," Egbert said.
That’s something Hannah Crumrine, the youth suicide prevention coordinator with the Idaho State Board of Education says is backed up by research.
“Some misinformation out there that says, if you talk about suicide you’ll plant the seed and really it’s the opposite," Crumrine explained. "It’s often a relief to hear someone say, ‘Are you thinking about suicide."
Crumrine, and her project overlook the entire state, and provide programs and resources to school districts around the state, as well as offer training to adults and students who are interested.
She mentioned a program like sources of strength where students discuss mental health in schools.
Egbert told me that she thinks the Boise School district is doing the best it can.
But she wants more transparency, and she thinks parents need to continue to talk to their kids about this topic.
“If there was a disease in the Treasure Valley that has taken 7 teens in the last few weeks, we would desperately want to know about it to protect our own children," Egbert said.
