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The Northwest Zero Tolerance Coalition hopes it can be a facilitator for a discussion that can all too often be a touchy subject.

“This is something that sometimes there is a hesitancy to talk about,” said 42-1 District Judge Denis LeDuc, chairman of the NZTC. “These issues are things that our community needs to be aware of. We need to have our eyes open.”

Stephanie Lange, a student assistance specialist at Dakota High School, visited with the NZTC to discuss teen depression and suicide, how it relates to drugs and alcohol, and how parents and members of the community can be more attune to the signs surrounding those problems.

“A lot of kids can quit using drugs and alcohol, but they are left with anxiety, fear and a lot of pressure they don’t know how to cope with,” Lange said, adding that part of her job at Dakota has been working with students on dealing with those pressures and helping members of the school community work to identify those signs.

“I started getting into identifying depression and other emotional concerns before they turned into suicide issues,” she said.

According to Lange, approximately 80 percent of teen suicides are completed when the student is high or drunk.

“It is all tied together in a mysterious way,” she said. “Through my programs at school, I have tried to empower the kids to reduce stigma around those issues.”

LeDuc said the NZTC will work to get the word out to parents in the community. The group has discussed having a parent education night about the subject in February.

“We have been aware that issues are interrelated with drugs and alcohol abuse, and oftentimes feelings of depression can ultimately pose risk factors for teen suicide,” he said.

The NZTC heard a presentation from the Macomb Crisis Center last year and LeDuc said the group was so concerned about the problem, it decided to try and learn more about it this year.

“Don’t treat it lightly,” LeDuc said. “Don’t offer simple, ŒYou will be alright,’ solutions.”

LeDuc said there are many statistics surrounding suicide that concern him, including that every 16 minutes there is a suicide somewhere in the United States.

Other stats include:

l Approximately 32,000 Americans die by suicide each year

l Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 10-24 and the second leading cause of death for American college-aged students

l There are an estimated 1.4 million suicide attempts per year in the United States

Some warning signs people should be aware of include students giving off a sense of hopelessness, uncontrolled anger, acting recklessly or engaging in risky activities.

“It is all interrelated to our concerns of drug and alcohol abuse,” LeDuc said.

For more information about the NZTC, call Jamie Rossmann at 752-9696, Ext. 212.