COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019 | 7A
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While sitting in his of-
fice during spring break he
describes “a continuum of
care” that he wants each of
his students to experience.
This includes not only get-
ting help with something
such as algebra homework
but, more importantly, get-
ting the assistance they
need with issues concerning
mental health. As mental
health issues in teenagers
increase across the country,
high-school aged students
in small communities are no
exception.
According to recent data,
one out of every five stu-
dents at Cottage Grove
High School has had sui-
cidal thoughts. This stag-
gering statistic mirrors data
from the Oregon Healthy
Teen Survey in 2017, which
shows that across the state
19 percent of juniors in high
school have considered
taking their own life.
In 2003, that figure in
Lane County students was
at 10 percent. Suicide is
the second-leading cause
of death for individuals
between ages 10 and 24
according to the report.
And the amount of sui-
cide deaths has been on
the rise.
Throughout the open-
ing two decades of the
21st century, young peo-
ple across the country
have faced more suicidal
thoughts. In Cottage Grove,
South Lane School District
(SLSD) has responded with
various programs and re-
sources to help students not
just cope with the day-to-
day anxieties they are facing
but, ultimately, help these
students survive.
For the Cottage Grove
High School administration
to understand what students
are going through, they first
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need to understand who
their students are. In a recent
presentation to staff and ad-
ministrators at the school,
a group of educators from
around the state expanded
on what they call “adverse
childhood experiences,” or
ACEs. These experiences
run a wide range of events
that “create stress beyond
the level a child has the abil-
ity to effectively cope with.”
This includes everything
from physical abuse and
neglect, to dealing with a di-
vorce. The report notes that
the more ACEs a student
has, the more likely they are
to experience a variety of is-
sues including poor health,
academic failure and general
behavioral issues.
One out of three students
is believed to have at least
one ACE which, in Cottage
Grove alone, translates to
about 250 students, accord-
ing to Ingman. While having
an ACE does not translate
directly to suicidal thoughts,
one suicide risk factor,” says
San Diego State University
psychology professor Dr.
Jean Twenge in the book
“iGen”. The book takes a
hard look at the rise of new
technology and depression
have grown together and are
hitting a generation born af-
ter 1995 especially hard.
For Cottage Grove Dean
of Students and teacher
Chris Wells, this informa-
tion rings true. As he sees
students putting seemingly
every interaction they have
on Snapchat or Instagram,
he has also seen a decline
in meaningful face-to-face
connections.
“I think we’ve also seen
a lack of human connec-
tion even between kids and
their families where it’s all
electronics. We spend so
much time TVs, comput-
ers, phones — stuff causing
a degradation of human to
human contact,” said Wells,
who notes he is also guilty
of this behavior. “We’re so-
kid, I have to get after the
parents sometimes — but
there are good relationships
that are born out of that.
There are kids that have a
problem and they come to
me.”
When a student is missing
more school than normal
or even approaching the
dreaded level of chronic ab-
senteeism (defined as miss-
ing at least 10 percent of the
school year), they will most
certainly here from Wells.
In addition, so will the stu-
dent’s family — in the form
of a letter — explaining the
situation and what missing
days can mean for the stu-
dent. Ultimately, high ab-
senteeism can even result in
going to court and a fine for
parents.
But Wells works with
all his resources to avoid
this scenario. Sometimes it
means getting a student an
alarm clock, coffee in the
morning or bribing them
with a reward for a span of
a few weeks of per-
fect attendance. It
can also mean pairing
these students with
programs that can lift
them up. Maybe they
should join a team or
club, or are in need
of assistance from the
McKinney Vento pro-
gram. The goal is to
give the student the
necessary tools they
need to succeed.
“I feel like we’re
getting a really good
view on how we see
kids and how we can help
kids. Because we’re doing a
lot more work in trauma-in-
formed care and in recog-
nizing that many kids come
to school with trauma from
whatever,” said Wells. “It’s
a spectrum and just how
to best help kids with that.
We’re working on how we
can be a more welcoming
and understanding place.”
With Wells often work-
ing as a first-line of defense
at the high school, there are
more systems set up to assist
students. One intervention
system that CGHS has in-
stalled this year has been a
program that has teachers
identify students they be-
lieve might be dealing with
one or more ACE issues.
The teachers submit a
form identifying what they
believe might be an issue
and there are conversations
around what needs to be
done next.
“We’ll get information
from teachers and stuff like
that and then try to get some
quick interventions back to
kids,” said Wells. “It’s a bet-
ter way to recognize kids
who might be in crisis. It’s
also another way for us to
get them referrals for some
other service if need be.
We’ve done stuff from coun-
seling to ‘Hey, that kid needs
glasses.’ The program is just
another way for us to get a
pulse of what’s going on with
our kids.”
“That’s the beauty of working with
youth in general — to able to really
provide them with the awareness that
they have their own power... so much
of our society sort of says:
‘You’re lesser than.’”
— Valeria Clarke, South Lane Mental health
the risk of facing these trau-
matic experiences is tied to
an increase in mental health
issues.
In addition to these ACEs,
a different factor to the deg-
radation of mental health in
teenagers might be one that
is sitting in their pockets:
their cell phones. Recent re-
search indicates that the rise
in mental health issues may
be tied to a rise in a growing
attachment to smart phones
and how these devices —
with hours of screen time a
day and a barrage of social
media interaction — can
actually increase a sense of
isolation and feelings of de-
pression.
“The link between screen
time and mental health is-
sues is distressingly clear:
teens who spend more than
three hours a day on elec-
tronic devices are 35 percent
more likely to have at least
cial beings but we’re doing it
through a different way.”
W
ith students facing
this broad swath of
challenges that are hurting
mental well-being, CGHS is
interested in looking in how
to help its students across
the board. The school has
a number of programs in
place that, while not explic-
itly focused on stemming
suicide, look to make stu-
dents feel a little bit better
at a time when it could have
the biggest impact.
For the school to be effec-
tive in this role, the first step
is getting students to show
up. And for that job, Wells
was put into his role as Dean
of Students in which he deals
with “all things attendance.”
“The problem with my at-
tendance position is it seems
inherently negative,” said
Wells. “I have to get after a
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A
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Saturday, April 6, 2019
Music starts at 6p.m.
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key program at CGHS
— and across South
Lane School District as a
whole — is South Lane
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