Buffalo Grove Student Works to Raise Awareness, Prevent Suicide

Elizabeth Bailey dedicates a good portion of her days tending to the needs of others.

The senior spends three days a week taking classes through a dual credit program at Harper College, where she’s in the nursing assistant program. 

When she’s not in school, she works as a lifeguard at a pool in her hometown Arlington Heights.

“I care a lot about people,” she said.

So when Bailey realized that suburban teens were committing suicide, she resolved to do her part to make a difference. She is working to establish an awareness program at her school and is in the early stages of planning a year-end event for all School District 214 students.

“Basically, suicide is becoming a really big issue,” said Bailey, who has filled a binder with suicide statistics and research. “Close to a million people each year are dying globally.”

Bailey said she first formed the idea for a local initiative as a freshman, after a friend’s brother took his own life shortly after his high school graduation.

“He seemed like a happy kid. He was totally outgoing. Everybody loved him,” she said.

Last year, one of her own classmates ended his life, and this year, she learned of the suicide of Prospect High School student. Just last month, a student at Hersey High School also took her own life.

In all, she said she has heard of seven suicides involving students or staff at nearby high schools in the last year.

Bailey noted that when a last year, there was an outpouring of support at Buffalo Grove, which held a moment of silence in Kenneth Uhl’s memory. When another student took his own life, things were different. Bailey said educators acknowledged the death and suggested that students visit counselors if they wanted to talk.

“We didn’t have a moment of silence. We didn’t do anything. That bothered me,” she said.

“There’s such a stigma when it comes to depression, suicide,” she said. “We all feel pain in life … I think we can do more for it.”

“I really want to do something.”

Taking Action

Bailey teamed with her friend Jessica Giambararee, a student at Prospect, and met with that school’s principal over the summer to begin putting their plan into action. Bailey has since gained the support of Buffalo Grove’s staff, including Student Assistance Program Coordinator Bob Leece, who leads parenting seminars and works with troubled teens.

Leece said he has been working to shed more light on teen depression in recent months. Buffalo Grove is in the process of adopting a new health curriculum for sophomores. Developed by Johns Hopkins University, the lessons will include signs of depression and ways in which teens can respond to a friend who is considering harming herself. Students will be surveyed before and after the lessons to help educators determine the effectiveness of the curriculum.

Buffalo Grove is also in the process of collaborating with to create teen discussion panels.

“Elizabeth is a key player in all of that,” said Leece, who praised Bailey for her initiative.

“I think that having a young student who is that invested and cares that much is admirable,” he said. “She’s thinking that kids helping kids can be pretty powerful, and I agree with that.”

At Buffalo Grove High School, Bailey kicked her plan into gear shortly after the start of the school year with a sticky note campaign, which was supported by the BG Cares club. Each student received a note of encouragement on his or her locker door.

Bailey is also spearheading an effort to establish an Erika’s Lighthouse chapter at her school. The Winnetka-based organization works to raise awareness about adolescent depression.

Since spreading the word of her efforts, Bailey said many classmates have reached out to her.

“I’ve had so many students contact me and say, ‘I’ve struggled with depression before, I’ve done self-injury before,’” she said.

It’s a stereotype that the depressed kids are the ones dressed all in black, she said.

Bailey said she experienced depression firsthand as a junior high student.  “I know what it’s like to have this darkness,” she said. “It’s just like, man, I really want to help these people.”

Suicide Statistics

According to a 2009 Youth Risk Behavior survey developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13.8 percent of U.S. students had thought about committing suicide during the previous 12 months, and 10.9 percent of students had made a suicide plan. Nationwide, 6.3 percent of students said they had attempted suicide at least once during the 12-month period.

“It just makes me wonder how many are still struggling,” she said.

Eye-opening to Bailey was learning that the World Health Organization ranks suicide as the third leading cause of death, after accidents and homicides.

“It’s even bigger than cancer,” she said.

“We do some much for cancer,” she said, noting her school’s involvement in the American Cancer Society’s and the recent . “If we do all that for cancer, we should do all that for suicide, too.”

When it comes to fighting cancer, “all we can do is give money. For suicide, there’s so much more we can do.”

Next Steps

Bailey plans to end her high school career with Hurricane of Hope, a districtwide event that she’s scheduled for May 5. Details are still in the works, but the event could include speakers, education, and possibly a walk.

The goal will be to further raise awareness and “get the word out and say, 'Hey, you’re not alone in this,'” she said.

She hopes that her effort will serve as a model for other school districts to adopt.

She also hopes to attract underclassmen to the cause so that they can continue the effort after Bailey graduates.

“I definitely think the students want to do something,” she said.

The effort requires a lot of dedication, said Bailey, who noted that “pretty much every day of my life I do something for this cause.” 

Leece said he has warned Bailey that despite her best efforts, “you can’t prevent it 100 percent of the time” and effectiveness cannot easily be measured.

When one’s actions help prevent self-injury, “sometimes you don’t know it until a year or two later, and sometimes you never know it,” he said.

Bailey said while her efforts may not provide quantitative feedback, “I think it’s worth a shot.”

“If I do all this work and only save that one person, it’s well worth it,” she said. “I want to go all the way. I want to be very impactful.”