OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Managing Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
GUEST COLUMN
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Students roam the halls of Astoria High School Tuesday morning
on the first day of the new school year. A Strive for Five campaign
targets absenteeism.
School absenteeism
saps chances for
high achievement
W
oody Allen said “80 percent of success is showing up,”
an observation that rings true. If you can’t meet basic
scheduling obligations, what are the odds of somehow
blundering into a good life in today’s increasingly complex world?
School absenteeism is a variation on this truism, except that fre-
quently absent students test the limits of just how often they can
not show up and get by anyway. If not showing up at all is the
death of prospects for a rewarding and well-rounded life, blowing
off classes too often is like a chronic illness, sapping chances for
high achievement.
Our Tuesday story explored how educators are searching for
ways to combat absenteeism — a nagging issue that hamstrings
learning and consistently places Oregon near the bottom nation-
ally. Meanwhile, the Seattle Times reported Sunday “that in 28
percent of Washington schools almost a third of all students are
missing weeks of classwork, a rate that ranks as second-worst in
the nation, after Alaska.”
Locally, an average of more than one-fifth of students in
Clatsop County were chronically absent in the 2015-16 school
year, missing at least 10 percent of the 180 school days, according
to the most recent data from the state Department of Education.
Attendance trails off badly toward the end of high school, when
students should instead be gathering momentum for careers by
doing well in classes. More than 28 percent of juniors and seniors
at Astoria High School, more than 30 percent at Warrenton High
School and 40 percent at Seaside High School are chronically
absent. Active intervention is needed well before the final years of
K-12 schooling to make sure to minimize the underlying reasons
for missing classes.
Absenteeism is bound up with family and individual dynamics
that some school officials understandably despair at influencing. If
parents don’t consider getting to school to be a high priority, odds
aren’t ideal that external forces can replace that lack of motivation.
And yet there are case studies showing that communities can
make a real difference in improving school-attendance rates, and
thus the prospects for students’ success in life.
The just-published “Portraits of Chance” (tinyurl.com/
yd4xycd4) provides road maps for lowering absenteeism.
“What works is taking a data-driven, comprehensive approach
that begins with engaging students and families as well as prevent-
ing absences from adding up. The key is using data as a diagnos-
tic tool to help identify and target where chronic absence is a prob-
lem,” the report states.
In a case study from elsewhere in Oregon, “the Tribal
Attendance Pilot Project illustrates the power of using data to raise
awareness of attendance challenges (in this case, Native American
students) and the power of partnering, in this case among tribes,
rural districts and families.”
The key point from the study is it isn’t necessary to become dis-
couraged about absenteeism. A variety of effective strategies are
available around the nation, models that can be adapted in local
school districts around the mouth of the Columbia. These strate-
gies tend not to be massively or instantly successful, but will make
a difference in the lives of many young people if they are imple-
mented and consistently applied.
A Tuesday report from the Brookings Institution (tinyurl.com/
Brookings-Rural-Dreams) makes it clear just how critical educa-
tion is to determining which of America’s rural counties languish
as economic backwaters and which establish paths to upward
mobility.
“Improving K-12 quality in distressed areas will improve
young residents’ life prospects and preparedness for adulthood,”
Brookings observed. “The broad lesson of our findings is that in
counties where children are able to prepare well for adult life, they
do well: even if, in many cases, this means moving elsewhere.
Country boys and girls from modest backgrounds can go on to
succeed every bit as much as their city cousins.”
We must make sure local schools meet students’ needs. And we
must do a better job of making certain students consistently take
advantage of the education they are offered.
Thinking about
suicide? Please stay
By AMY BAKER
Special to The Daily Astorian
S
eptember is National Suicide
Prevention Month. The point
I want to make is simple and
if you want to skip
to the end, here
it is: please stay.
I say this from
the bottom of my
heart to each and
every person in
this community. I
say this knowing fully that staying
alive means that you may continue
to suffer. It’s a big “ask,” so let me
explain.
Suicide is the second leading
cause of death for those between
the ages of 15 and 34. Death by
suicide claims more lives than
murder and natural disasters
combined. Suicide is not a rare,
isolated event. It’s real and perma-
nent, leaving those left behind in
agony.
In my professional and personal
life, I’ve stood beside those who
couldn’t see beyond their own
despair. Men, who take their own
lives at almost four times the rate
of women, may have been consid-
ering suicide because it’s better
to be dead than “weak.” I have
crossed paths with young adults
who felt that they were completely
alone in the world, and who could
not bear the thought of living on.
Suicide prevention is not an
academic exercise for me, nor, I’m
pretty sure, for any of my staff
who work alongside me at Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare. We care
about this topic because we’ve
looked deep into the face of this
epidemic and long for a way to
make it stop.
For family members and loved
ones, suicide is devastating.
For them, the loss is plagued by
stigma, guilt and the horrible
onslaught of “what could I have
done differently.”
Suicide leaves a horrible wake
in its path, shaking the foundation
for all of us. Suicide is like a
weed with many shoots that wraps
itself around all of us, casting
doubt on hope and our sense of
future. It frays our social fabric
and brings into question the com-
pact each of us has with society.
As a community, we agree to build
a future together, knowingly or
not. We agree to hope for our chil-
dren and our collective future. To
paraphrase Jennifer Michael Hecht
from her book “Stay: A history of
suicide and the arguments against
it:” Either the universe is a cold
dead place with solitary sentient
beings, or we are all alive together,
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The crisis respite center in Warrenton helps patients with mental illness.
Suicide leaves a horrible
wake in its path, shaking the
foundation for all of us. Suicide
is like a weed with many shoots
that wraps itself around all of us,
casting doubt on hope and
our sense of future.
SUICIDE SIGNS
If you or someone you know is experi-
encing any of these symptoms, please
seek help.
• Talking about wanting to die or to kill
oneself
• Looking for a way to kill oneself
• Talking about feeling hopeless or
having no purpose
• Talking about feeling trapped or
being in unbearable pain
• Talking about being a burden to
others
• Increasing the use of alcohol or
drugs
• Acting anxious, agitated, or reckless
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Withdrawing or feeling isolated
• Showing rage or talking about seek-
ing revenge
• Displaying extreme mood swings
committed to persevere.
I do not dismiss the sense of
despair that can feel completely
disproportionate to the life a
person lives, creating guilt for not
being able to cope, on top of being
lonely and miserable. The despair
people feel is legitimate. At
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, we
see people every day who suffer
with mental illness, or addiction,
or both, to an extent that can be
incomprehensible. If you are one
of them, still, I ask you to stay.
If you are contemplating sui-
cide because you don’t want to be
a burden to someone else, contem-
plate this: the burden of staying is
infinitely smaller to those you care
about. Your family and friends will
drown in regrets.
To those of you who have at
some point contemplated suicide
— and we are legion! — yet
decided to live, I am forever
grateful. You chose to honor your
future self, to give the future you
a chance at joy. You chose to stay,
if only for your family, or your
religion, or whatever reason was
compelling to you. Let’s face it.
We all suffer, some more than
others, but suffering is the human
condition.
It takes heroic courage to stay.
In the face of despair, this courage
demands our respect. In my work,
I am honored to bear witness
to this courage. Those who live
are silent, extraordinary heroes
and they deserve not only our
gratitude, but our deep admiration.
If you or someone you know is
contemplating suicide, please tell
someone. We are here, as are
others. The suicide lifeline at Lines
for Life is 1-800-273-8255 and for
youth it’s 1-877-968-8491. Our
immediate access number is (503)
325-5724.
Amy Baker is the executive
director of Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 439 Cannon House Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515.
Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225-
9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil-
likan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR
97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax
503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.house.
gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Office Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden.
senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373,
Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1431. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/witt/
Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.
or.us District office: P.O. Box 928,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone:
503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/ boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone:
503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john-
son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy-
johnson.com District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone:
503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296.
Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive
Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto-
ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300.
Email: admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.