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As teen cluster suicides have devastated communities across the country in recent years, school systems have set up counseling networks, including suicide-prevention training for teachers and students, suicide hotlines and community- and parent-awareness programs to help identify and deter potential victims. But problem kids often ignore offers of help. Although Bergenfield prides itself on the number of youth-support programs operating in the school district, many students did not seem to be aware of them.
The day after the Bergenfield suicides, a group of teenagers paid a night- time visit to garage No. 74 at Foster Village and spray-painted the once pastel blue door black, the paint streaking down its surface in places. Though the teenagers of Bergenfield are frightened and hurt by the deaths of their friends, it may be the parents whose shock and fear are the greatest. The adults of Bergenfield can only pray that the Pied Piper visiting their town will spare the rest of their children. "When something like this happens, I think a lot about my kids," says Barbara O'Leary, a hostess at a local diner. "I have to hope I raised them right. These are the dangerous years. You don't always know what's going on inside their heads."
CHART: TEXT NOT AVAILABLE
Credit: TIME Chart by Nigel Holmes
Caption: SUICIDE RATES per 100,000 population
Description: Bar chart, 1955-1985, ages 15-24 and all ages.