Throw a lifeline

By SARAH KOENIG

LIBERTY — Outside the auditorium prior to an afternoon program on teen suicide, organizers had set up a table with facts and statistics.

“What do these smiling faces have in common?” asks one poster-sized display, featuring a dozen or so formal headshots. “Suicide,” was the grim answer.

An anonymous student, walking past the auditorium and rifling through the brochures and books, looked at the display and said, “I’m surprised they don’t have William’s picture up there.”

The memory of William Lodrini, a Liberty High School student who killed himself two months ago on October 16, was somewhere in the back of everyone’s mind. On Tuesday, December 4, his former classmates attended the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program, a collaborative effort between the school administration, the Bedford County Chapter of the Light for Life Foundation and Action Towards Independence.

Tina Henderson, founder of the Bedford County Chapter, spoke openly and emotionally about the suicide death of her son, Eric, in 1996. It was his loss that prompted her to take action, by talking to school-aged kids about suicide and removing the code of silence that has become attached to the issue.

“Before my son died,” she told the kids, “my family never talked about suicide. Now, we talk about it all the time. That’s the first step in prevention.”

For a program that focuses on communication as a means of preventing teen suicide, it was the idea of not knowing what to say that started it.

It was founded in 1994 by Dar Emee, the mother of a teenager named Mike who committed suicide, nicknamed “Mustang Mike” for his bright yellow, restored 1968 Ford Mustang.

Gathering together comfort for the family and each other, Mike’s classmates discussed the tragedy.

Mike’s mom talked with the teens about creating mementos that others could have to remember him with, and she decided that yellow would be used in honor of the car he loved.

When asked by the kids, “What can we do?” Mike’s mother answered, “Don’t do this, don’t attempt suicide. If you are ever at this point of despair, please ask for help!”

Cards adorned with yellow ribbons and important information were made and distributed by the kids, initially at Mike’s memorial service and later on a bigger scale as the movement began to grow.

On the front of the cards are printed the messages, “This ribbon is a lifeline!” and “I need to use my yellow ribbon,” allowing for a simple, effective way for people who are afraid to verbally ask for help to get the help they need.

On the back of the card is written, “This card is a cry for help,” with useful advice for the person who receives the card, enabling them to help their friend in need.

Henderson believes that the appeal and strength of the program was that it was started and maintained by teenagers, a group whose strong connection to suicide is statistically visible.

“It might have been a parent who told the kids those words,” said Henderson, “but it was the kids who took the initiative to share them, with each other and with others in trouble.”

And according to Liberty High School teacher Michele Scarffe, whom students have approached to be the faculty advisor of an LHS chapter of the Yellow Ribbon Program, it’s the kids who aren’t afraid to keep the conversation going.