An 11th grader from my daughter's school, an Asian kid who was in her Spanish class, jumped from the roof of his building last night, a suicide. The news spread through the students' Facebook/ phone text/ IM network like wildfire, with a long line of Facebook statuses saying simply "R.I.P."
I asked my daughter what this kid had been like. She said, "Quiet. He always seemed tired. He always put his head down on the desk in class. I mean, he had friends, kids liked him. But he was quiet."
Why don't we ever see tragedy in the making?
There will be psychologists and grief counselors in attendance tomorrow as the students file back into school. There's even a meeting for the parents at 6:30 p.m. None of it will bring this kid, Chris Chin was his name, I feel that I should name him, say he was here, none of it will bring heartbroken Chris Chin back from the edge of that building.
Rest in peace.
So very sad.
ReplyDeletei'll miss you chris
ReplyDeleteThis past summer, my daughter went to camp with Chris in Costa Rica; they (all the teens in the camp) performed 50 hours of community service enriching the lives of others...They are all wonderful young people. The loss is felt by many outside of New York, including Florida, Illinois, and California to begin with. Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris's family.
ReplyDeletei went to camp with chris in costa rica. he was an amazing kid. hes going to be missed a lot. he touched everyones lives in a way. I'm glad I had a chance to know him. He was so helpfull and funny.
ReplyDeleteChris appears to have been visibly depressed. Did anyone who had the authority to speak with Chris or his family suggest therapy? Did anyone other than his classmate even notice? This is so sad.
ReplyDeletejust because he was quiet did not mean he was depressed, what teenager doesn't sleep in class? he was a perfectly normal, happy kid whenever i was around him
ReplyDeleteWhen I posted that Chris appeared to have been visibly depressed, I was responding to the statements of the blogger's daughter that he "always" put his head down in class and that he "always seemed tired." I agree that it is within the realm of "perfectly normal" for a kid to sleep in class. However, an "always" tired kid who "always" put his head down in class would have raised a million red flags for me. Something was wrong.
ReplyDeleteWould like to say that the school has been so very sensitive to the students and their families in the aftermath of Chris's death. Chris had apparently been depressed and was in treatment (not absolutely positive about this, but I get the impression). In any case, some people did see the red flags. But no one got to him on that last disturbed night. That is what haunts. Thanks to everyone who commented her for their obvious love and concern.
ReplyDelete