The Wicomico County Public School System works to support all students as they grow and learn. We are deeply saddened when a student’s life is cut short. We grieve along with the family, friends, Parkside High and Pittsville Elementary and Middle schools, and the community at the loss last weekend of a ninth-grade Parkside student who died by what is presumed to be suicide.
The schools, with support from the school system, have responded to this heartbreaking loss with counseling services, compassion, and a willingness to listen. The school the student was attending, Parkside High, has been in close contact with the student’s mother since this tragic event occurred, and she has expressed her appreciation for the school’s communications to parents. She has also stated her agreement with the school’s decision not to hold a moment of silence. While the celebration of the student’s life will be held at the Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, both schools were willing to serve as a setting for services.
Parkside is striving to balance many requests for remembrance with respect for the wishes of the family and other concerns, including the welfare of the entire school community. On Monday, friends who wished to have a special setting at the lunch table to remember their former classmate were supported in doing so. Many friends wore T-shirts personalized with the student’s picture, while students and staff throughout Parkside showed solidarity by wearing green. While some have suggested a moment of silence would be appropriate, many experts in the field of student suicide prevention and response recommend against a school sponsoring memorial or commemorative activities immediately after a student’s death. The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, for example, states that a more effective focus for a school after a student suicide is supporting the development of meaningful, thoughtful activities after the immediate crisis; this may be more therapeutic for students and staff. Parkside will work to honor and remember this student, while respecting the wishes of the family.
Efforts to provide support will continue to take place in this difficult time. Please know that the doors of the school administration, teachers and counseling staff of Parkside High School and Pittsville Elementary and Middle School will remain open to those who may need support.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
28 comments:
Perfect response.
If you don't talk about it then it didn't happen. Referring to the bullying.
Perfect political correct auto response.
It's NOT being addressed because they feel Blacks would feel Targeted.
Anonymous said...
It's NOT being addressed because they feel Blacks would feel Targeted.
November 7, 2017 at 5:13 PM
There is a story here.
This is utterly ridiculous. The problem is all grieve differently. Just because some fly by night organization claims a moment of silence is not helpful doesn't mean it's true. It's no wonder the US school system has gone to hell. They want all students to be brainless robots.
Was it bullying? Has anyone confirmed that?
May God give her family strength. There's nothing worse than having to bury your child.
Yes, there is a story here......
The story from what I have been told (from 3 people out from ground zero) is this beautiful young girl was half white.
Because she was half white, she was being bullied by blacks and that black boys were pinching/grabbing her derriere.
"If you don't look exactly like us, you are the enemy" Lower forms of life subscribed to this!
It is more than bulling. It is called sexual assault/harassment.
And now this once beautiful young life lies lifeless while everybody walks around talking,... scratching their head and playing Ground Hog day...
The king has no clothes and political correctness are the same...
Pathetic
No schools locally seem to address it, they sweep it under the rug!
The school sucks
Bullying is nothing new. It was all once a right of passage. You stood up for yourself and if you could not eventually one of your peers or a spectator took a stand. Youths once had a public conscience and a social order. Their current malaise is much like our political climate and society at large. Self obsessed and divided, intolerant and fractured from the collective empathy and altruism that makes us families, communities and civilized. It's sad. All the social media, Fake news, good, bad, real or otherwise not and even this forum itself is not going to restore our faiths and creeds to its peaceful semblances and coexistent society making. We have home grown terrorists in our midst not foreign dark skinned bearded boogie men. Your own neighbor may shoot you down in your church like a fish in a barrel. Lovely times and we wonder why youths are apathetic defeated and suicidal.
Kaitlyn was NOT being sexually assaulted by black boys at all! She was not being bullied by African American children, she was not even really bullied. Due to the effects of verbal and mental abuse in her home life and stresses of being a teen she couldn’t cope and after multiple warnings and suggestions of joy wanting to live or that she couldn’t take much more, she took her life after seeing the results her friends was going through in a similar situation. It’s so sad these demons make everything about race and even sadder the only ones who were teasing her were Caucasian classmates that said she had nappy hair and made off color jokes or referred to her as a zebra and other derogatory names. Life is hard enough teach your kids to be kind and tolerant! And that’s from a white mother of biracial children! Race is not important but being kind and loving is. Pray for these kids and pay attention to the cry for help!
why did wboc drop channel 16.2?
Is this the work of Propaganda Minister Paul Butler and his 96k salary?
Oh we cant actually address the cause of the bullying can ee? The feral thugs that harass, tormemt, and terrorize our schools SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED WCBOE!! WHEN DOES THIS MADNESS END?
It has come to my attention there may have been other circumstances, (aside from school bullying) that possibly played a role in this unfortunate situation. That being said, I take back my original comment to this post.
I don't know anything about this situation but I respect the fact Joe deleted his first response and owned up to it, but it should have never been posted without facts. My heart goes out to the family and friends in this unimaginable event. Very sad.
Thank u for the truth. The truth hurts, the ignorant ones wont want to hear it.
A child that i work w/ told me this also
Understand, sometimes not all comes to info comes to light, sounds like this was more than school related
Joe check this crap out. You have got to post this. This country has taken a serious crap on Americans. Look what the Hell Northern Virginia just elected as their State Delegate. This is GROSS, this is so disgusting!
Virginia Politics
Danica Roem is Va.’s first openly transgender elected official, unseating conservative in House race
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/danica-roem-will-be-vas-first-openly-transgender-elected-official-after-unseating-conservative-robert-g-marshall-in-house-race/2017/11/07/d534bdde-c0af-11e7-959c-fe2b598d8c00_story.html?utm_term=.19b651474c14
@7:07
Pay attention for somebody's cry for help? Apparently you knew more than anybody else about this poor girl. Why didn't you come forward and get this stopped before this happened? Who did you call? How did you try to help her? I don't care if it was caused by caucasians or blacks why didn't you help her? This beautiful young child is dead now and she'll be put in her grave and you have to live with that... and you knew what was going on and apparently did nothing!
Let the truth come out! I don't know what it is but I can speak from both points of views. As a kid I was involved in an accident I couldn't play hard or fully participant in gym from 5th grade through high school and had a half shaved head from my accident for a year...luckily I was never bullied but home life was bad always had been...hell I'm still the one who did nothing with my life! But I have never shammed my children...yes I call them out when their wrong but I'm not gonna be mean and say harsh stuff! My kids 17 & 14 almost 15 I'd be lost without them and I never want them to feel lonely or like they have no place to turn....first gen homeowners and we have a happy home/marriage not perfect but we can't be that wrong!! Right??? I moved out of my home before I walked across my stage for graduation...I couldn't wait to leave the HOME I grew up in!
Ignorance must be bliss. 9:53 that what you said is the true face of bullying. If you knew anything, you d know that there wasnt much that could be done. What? Put her in therapy? If what the person, who may be a teen said, is true, a cps report wouldnt stand a chance in hell. In therapy its her word vs her parents. You act as if you was a fly on the wall and know that is going on. This is sad but a reality facing our youth. Your if you would haves wont help
@9;06, It's so sad how our country is losing all it's morals. It's so hard to believe he was elected. If he was elected legally.
Are you serious? You managed to turn this into a racial thing?! Get real!
If there is any legitimate social media postings that contributed to her taking her own life, they should be made public with the authors names also made public. No child should be subjected hatred so immense as to cause them to consider suicide.
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