{"id":1942,"date":"2007-10-08T08:16:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-08T08:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html"},"modified":"2007-10-08T08:16:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-08T08:16:00","slug":"for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html","title":{"rendered":"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Catholics are known for being unabashedly pro-life. But a committed group of Catholics in Indiana is adding another dimension to that idea, by shedding light on one of the darkest corners of human life, and one many don’t like to talk about: suicide. <\/p>\n

From the Catholic Moment<\/a> newspaper in Lafeyette, Indiana: <\/p>\n

Wearing T-shirts that read \u201cFor the Love of Kyle\u201d and \u201cOut of the Darkness,\u201d more than 250 men, women and children walked around Fowler Town Park on Sept. 16 to raise public awareness of suicide.<\/p>\n

It was the third annual Out of the Darkness walk.<\/p>\n

Community participation began after 11-year-old Kyle Schluttenhofer, a student at Sacred Heart School, took his own life.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year we have at least one suicide that affects the entire community,\u201d said Terri Goodman, Sacred Heart principal and event organizer. \u201cThe suicides have not stopped, so we cannot stop raising awareness. Our goal is to keep this fresh in everyone\u2019s mind and to let people know that there are resources available, that they are not alone, and that there is support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The walks help the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) by raising money for research and education programs to prevent suicide, increasing national awareness of depression and suicide, and assisting survivors of suicide loss. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was only 11,\u201d said Susan Schluttenhofer, Kyle\u2019s mother. \u201cI don\u2019t believe at that age he really comprehended what he was doing. This is something that\u2019s not talked about, and my goal today is to make sure that kids are educated, so that they know that if someone talks about (suicide), that they need to tell someone. I also think it\u2019s important to educate teachers and administrators, so that they know what signs to look for.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to national statistics provided by AFSP, someone dies by suicide about every 16 minutes in the United States. It is the fifth-leading cause of death among those age 5 to 14 years and the third-leading cause of death among those age 15 to 24. <\/p>\n

Benton County has the highest suicide rate in Indiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that most people in our community have been affected by suicide in one way or another,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cWe want to get beyond the stigma of suicide and to help people understand that there are resources out there, not just here in Benton County, but all over the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funds raised through this year\u2019s walk will benefit a survivors\u2019 support group and response team, and Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training for teachers, administrators and first responders to help identify people who might be at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my mom (to suicide) just over five years ago,\u201d said Ashley Lamie-Higgins, a participant and teacher at Benton Central High School. \u201cI\u2019m here to help support families who have been through this, and also to help aid in prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamie-Higgins will participate in QPR training, something she believes is an important step in helping spread the message that support is out there, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support of my family, of the support groups, and being involved in this event has really helped me to get through the loss of my mom,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that through this, people are encouraged to seek help if they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community resources are a key to prevention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are aware of available resources, they are more apt to reach out and talk to someone,\u201d Goodman said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne great benefit of this walk and the training we\u2019ve received is that students have approached administrators or counselors with concerns about friends, whereas before, they may not have,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just builds awareness \u2014 especially in the kids \u2014 to know that if someone is even talking about it or mentions it, that it\u2019s important to tell someone about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my years of teaching religious education and at Sacred Heart, I have lost three students to suicide,\u201d said Teresa Gretencord, an event participant and volunteer. \u201cWhen Kyle died, we just all decided we have to do something about this. We\u2019ve got to get more people on board \u2014 that is one of our goals here today.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Continue reading at the link<\/a> for more on the warning signs of suicide, and what you can do to intervene. You can also visit the Out of Darkness<\/a> website for more information. <\/p>\n

Photo: from the Catholic Moment<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catholics are known for being unabashedly pro-life. But a committed group of Catholics in Indiana is adding another dimension to that idea, by shedding light on one of the darkest corners of human life, and one many don’t like to talk about: suicide. From the Catholic Moment newspaper in Lafeyette, Indiana: Wearing T-shirts that read…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFor the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catholics are known for being unabashedly pro-life. But a committed group of Catholics in Indiana is adding another dimension to that idea, by shedding light on one of the darkest corners of human life, and one many don’t like to talk about: suicide. From the Catholic Moment newspaper in Lafeyette, Indiana: Wearing T-shirts that read…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-10-08T08:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RwohK7dyjII\/AAAAAAAABIE\/g7Gw46sPVfc\/s320\/63320103.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"Catholics are known for being unabashedly pro-life. But a committed group of Catholics in Indiana is adding another dimension to that idea, by shedding light on one of the darkest corners of human life, and one many don’t like to talk about: suicide. From the Catholic Moment newspaper in Lafeyette, Indiana: Wearing T-shirts that read…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2007-10-08T08:16:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RwohK7dyjII\/AAAAAAAABIE\/g7Gw46sPVfc\/s320\/63320103.jpg"}],"author":"deacon greg kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html","name":"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide - The Deacon's Bench","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RwohK7dyjII\/AAAAAAAABIE\/g7Gw46sPVfc\/s320\/63320103.jpg","datePublished":"2007-10-08T08:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-10-08T08:16:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RwohK7dyjII\/AAAAAAAABIE\/g7Gw46sPVfc\/s320\/63320103.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RwohK7dyjII\/AAAAAAAABIE\/g7Gw46sPVfc\/s320\/63320103.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/10\/for-the-love-of-kyle-raising-awareness-about-suicide.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For the love of Kyle: raising awareness about suicide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10","name":"deacon greg kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","caption":"deacon greg kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}