Teen suicide clusters prompt mandate for California schools to confront taboo topic (calmatters.org)

Absolutely concurring with you Todd, every educational system must have polices written and implemented on behalf of the well-being of every child and youth in their schools.

Devastating to hear of the young high school student who took her life... May her passing ignite and inspire systems change within every school and community.

The suicide rate of our young people is staggering! And heartbreaking! Having lost a friend to suicide, my heart continues to ache for Diane. Their hopelessness and helplessness is gut wrenching, and we, as a human society, must transform our systems to cultures of caring and compassion.

We, too, have been experiencing an unprecedented number of teen suicides in the last few years. I'm glad to see the California schools taking action, but I fear this bill is not enough. As we have learned in Montana, it is not just the "high-risk" kiddos that we need to be concerned with. All kids are at risk... or as someone recently said, "In-risk." We recently had a young high school girl take her own life -- and there were NO warning signs at all! She did not post anything anywhere that showed she was vulnerable to this type of action. No clues on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media. All of her friends said she seemed fine.. not depressed, or anxious, or worried, or mad, or sad... nothing. This young lady has a great family, happy siblings, and a very stable and nurturing environment.

Yes, there are kiddos that we can more easily identify as in-risk. But, like ACEs, one cannot tell from the outside, necessarily, the level of stress that's happening on the inside. Legislation and school policies are great, but what's good for one kid (think: high-risk) must be good for all kids. And the policies should be written and put into action in that manner.