One local clergyman has asked his congregation to dedicate Ash Wednesday to praying and fasting for the nation’s children in light of reports of suicide attempts by several students attending corporate area high schools in Jamaica.
The priest, Father Kingsley Asphall, who pastors the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Half-Way-Tree, described the situation as “frightening”. While he has personally ministered to some of these students, some of the cases are being dealt with by other agencies.
“In one particular school, there was a session with 25 boys who apparently are suicidal. Quite a number of other children are under the watch at school,” said Asphall who has been pastoring for more than 30 years.
“It seems as if that is the ‘in thing’ these days. I know that they are stressed, I know that our children are under pressure at home and school and I am aware that quite a number of students have actually tried—made several attempts to commit suicide,” he told the Freedom Come Rain Newspaper.
Asphall, who has been contacted to counsel some of these students, said that pastors, teachers, and principals are now on high alert because of what is happening.
“I was actually giving a session in one particular school, and one young lady asked to be excused from the session, and the next thing I know, the child was preparing to jump off the building,” he recounted of the incident, which took place about a month ago.
“When it was brought to my attention, I sat her down and talked to her, and what scared me was when I asked her, “Would you do it again?” and she said, “Oh yes.”
VARYING REASONS
With children and youths not attending churches as often as before, Father Asphall and other priests went to one particular Catholic school this week and spent each day ministering to students.
“It’s not like we have come across attempts for suicide, but it’s just to be there to guide our children, just in case any one of them could be thinking of doing that,” said the priest.
He noted that some students do not have a father figure, and some are victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Some of the girls are being sexually harassed by taxi operators and dons in their communities, while there are other factors such as bullying and peer pressure.
CHURCHES WILLING TO ASSIST
“The church has to be their support and a crutch to assist our young people. In spite of [the challenges] of the church, the church is human, the church is holy, so we have to be there to assist,” Father Asphall insisted.
“COVID didn’t do any justice to our children. Some of the video games that they watch and the music they are listening to are not doing any justice to them. Some of the parents are not doing any justice to our children, sadly enough,” he said.
Members of the Holy Cross Church agreed to go on fasting on Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent, after the priest expressed his concerns.
Just over a week ago, 15-year-old Danielle Johnson, a student of a Braeton, Portmore address died of suspected suicide at her house. Her mother returned home after 6 pm and found her hanging. Last year, 15-year-old Chad Lester was found hanging by a sheet from the roof of his home in Brandon Hill, St Andrew.
CHOOSE LIFE
Co-founder and president of Choose Life International, Dr Donovan Thomas, has been offering suicide prevention and grief counselling services for several years. While he was not able to say whether the cases of teen suicide are increasing, he has observed that there has been a number of suicide cases overall in recent times.
On Tuesday, the body of 55-year-old marketer from Kingston Bookshop, Fredrick Grant, was found in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck with his head slumped over the steering wheel with a gunshot wound to the mouth in what is suspected to be a case of suicide.
Victor Fisher, an auditor employed to the Auditor General’s Office died in a suspected suicide at his home in Old Harbour, St Catherine last month. In January also, the body of police corporal Horace McDermott was found inside his house located at the Llanndilo Housing Scheme with what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A few weeks after, retired deputy superintendent of police, Lloyd ‘Patch a Grey’ Wilson, 61, was found dead at his Wellington Heights, Kingston 6 home, in what police theorize was a case of suicide.
“What we are seeing is more suicide in the nation and what we are finding, is that there are several more people who are expressing suicidal ideations,” said Dr Thomas.
In Jamaica, the suicide rate is approximately 2.1 per 100,000 and statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force indicate that there are between 47 and 56 deaths per year due to suicide.
HELP IS AVAILABLE – CALL SOMEONE
The Ministry of Health currently has a 24-hour toll free Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Helpline (888-NEW LIFE/888-639-5433) that allows persons access to initial counselling and appropriate intervention to mental health crises, including suicidal intent or attempts.