Four suicides leave Va. Beach schools grief-stricken

VIRGINIA BEACH

Donald Wafford was making progress this school year. His grades were up, and the 17-year-old sophomore was getting along with his classmates at Salem High School.

"I felt like things were turning around for him," the boy's father said.

But last week, Wafford took his life. He is the fourth Virginia Beach high school student to commit suicide in just over two months.

School officials say they have no reason to believe the deaths were related. Still, the suicides have saddened the community and prompted some to take steps to discourage other students from harming themselves.

Four suicides in two months is unusual for a high school population of about 22,000 students, said Anna Noller, a forensic epidemiologist for the state's chief medical examiner's office. On average, about two high school-age Virginia Beach teens committed suicide each year between 2003 and 2009, according to statistics compiled by Noller's office.

Other South Hampton Roads school divisions reported no suicides this school year.

Students at Bayside High - the school Allison Arnold, 15, and Brian Robinson, 17, attended before they committed suicide this year - held two memorial services in as many months for their fallen classmates.

Students at Princess Anne High School also came together to remember 16-year-old Amber Hilker after she committed suicide in January.

The scene was repeated Wednesday as students from Salem High gathered at a service for Donald Wafford.

In each case, the school division deployed counselors and psychologists to help students cope, said Alveta Green Mitchell, director of guidance services. "Students are so delicate emotionally at this age," Mitchell said. "And so we do everything we can to make ourselves available to students after tragedies like this."

The school division hasn't considered changing any policies as a result of the four suicides, spokeswoman Nancy Soscia said. Each high school already has a crisis intervention team and programs aimed at preventing teen suicide, she said.

"It's tragic anytime a student takes their own life... but we have no reason to believe these incidents represent a trend," Soscia said.

Some parents, though, say they are concerned that four student suicides might indicate a dangerous pattern.

"My fear is that the students are getting the idea from each other," said Heather O'Brien, whose son attends Bayside. "If this is something that is a trend, people need to be aware of it, and we need to do something."

Similar concerns were raised at the College of William and Mary last year after three students committed suicide in eight months. The deaths made national headlines as people questioned whether the suicides were part of a chain reaction on the Williamsburg campus. College officials disputed any connection between the deaths, but as a precaution following the third suicide, dispatched grief counselors to meet with students.

Cliff Hatt, coordinator of psychological services for Virginia Beach schools, said he doubts the four suicides here are related.

"I think the idea that a suicide might inspire others to commit suicide is conventional wisdom that doesn't actually play out," he said. "There isn't a suicide contagion. Each incident is unique."

Unfortunately, Hatt said, teen suicide is more common than people realize. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rate of teen suicides in Virginia Beach between 2003 and 2009 was 6.7 suicides for every 100,000 high school-age teens - lower than the statewide rate of 7.3 deaths per 100,000 for that period, according to the state medical examiner's office. Fifteen Virginia Beach high school-aged teens committed suicide over that period.

"Our numbers appear to be below the national average, but even one tragic death is too many," Hatt said. "Our goal is to prevent every potential student suicide."

Suicide prevention lessons at Virginia Beach high schools focus on helping students feel comfortable sharing their emotions, administrators said. In 10th-grade health courses, Beach students are taught how to find help if they're feeling depressed or suicidal. Neighboring Hampton Roads school systems have similar programs, school officials said.

Public schools didn't offer as many programs to deter suicide when Kathy Wakefield's son, Jake, killed himself in July 2001. She founded I Need a Lighthouse, a Beach-based outreach program aimed at preventing teen suicide, after his death.

Wakefield educates Beach high school students through a partnership with the school system. "Our thinking is, if you have been told about the warning signs of teen depression, you can better deal with it. And so, that's what we do."

People need to be more aggressive in helping children with emotional struggles, said O'Brien, the Bayside parent. After Arnold committed suicide in January, O'Brien and her son, 17-year-old Avery Riddell, started the nonprofit STAY Inc., to raise awareness about teen suicide.

Riddell, a junior at Bayside, said he wasn't close with Arnold, but her death stunned him. Riddell said he was bullied when he was a freshman at another school; he, too, considered hurting himself.

"I don't want to see this happen to anyone else," Riddell said. "I just think this is a problem, and I don't want to see it grow. No other kids need to die."

Riddell and his mother are raising money for scholarships for students who plan to enter the mental health field. Eventually, they hope to open a teen center in Virginia Beach that would cater to students with emotional problems.

Michael Turner, a Bayside graduate who now attends Norfolk State University, also was motivated to help. March of Voices, the group he started, is holding an anti-suicide charity walk April 30 at the Oceanfront, with proceeds going to I Need a Lighthouse.

More than 200 people have signed up, he said.

"We're doing this to get out the word that suicide is a problem, it has been a problem, and it's getting worse," Turner said. "We have to let these students know that there are people who care and that we're here for them."

Classmates and friends of the four Beach high school suicide victims have turned to online social networking to vent their emotions. Hundreds of students have written messages on Facebook memorial pages set up for three of the students.

Several also have used the pages to plan memorial services and suicide-prevention fundraisers.

"I think it's good that people are talking about this," Turner said. "People don't like to talk about suicide, and that's a problem."

Alex Wafford, 21, said he fell to his knees and wept when he learned his brother had taken his life. He hopes the community's reaction to the suicides will deter others.

"These students need to know that there is no dignity in death," he said.

Mike Hixenbaugh, (757) 222-5117, mike.hixenbaugh@pilotonline.com