by Cheryl Lacey, DSJ, Take The Lead On Education™, ©2024
(Nov. 20, 2024) — Warning: This may be a challenging read!
Grief cuts deeply when we learn of children taking their own lives due to online bullying. It’s a tragedy that demands our attention and reflection.
Yet, at the risk of sounding cold, we need to think carefully about correlation and causation—not to absolve nor to blame anyone, including those who are gone, but to recognise that suicide is one of the most difficult human actions to understand.
We are wired to survive and, ideally, to thrive.
But some people, even those who appear to be thriving, reach a point where life seems to lose all value. Why?
That’s the haunting question, and unless someone has completed suicide and returned to explain their reasons, we cannot know. To my knowledge, no one has done so.
This is the profound dilemma of suicide.
For those left behind, it becomes a never-ending cycle: grappling with guilt, searching for answers, seeking closure, and always wondering.
Was it a single overwhelming event?
A series of small, compounding pressures?
A genetic or psychological predisposition?
A spiritual dimension?
The reasons usually remain a mystery for the living – even if there is an answer.
A dear friend of mine, a former police officer, often reminds me: “Either someone kills themselves, or someone else has killed them.”
It’s stark but also provides perspective, particularly given the startling statistics and those numbers hidden from plain view.
Single-vehicle accidents, falls, and alleged accidental overdoses don’t usually count. Is there a silent agreement in these circumstances to spare those left behind? Or is it more about preventing the challenges of prevention?
Could the same be said of prevention when someone’s child takes their life over words spoken by another? Despite many families living by the age-old adage, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me,’ the ripple flows through all our communities and into our homes.
You might be wondering why I’m writing such a triggering piece.
It’s because it hurts like hell.
While many are drowning in grief with no hope of salvation, some people remain thoughtlessly cruel, oblivious to the damage they cause.
The extent of cruelty may never be known, but in those times when the truth reveals itself, retribution will play its part.
What follows are some articles I have previously written and I thought might be helpful to share.
Something may spark a deeper conversation about life, death, and the reality of words and action.
Read the rest here.