Thread: I-Team: Startling Statistic on Child Deaths in Clark County

I-Team: Startling Statistic on Child Deaths in Clark County

An in-depth look at child deaths in Clark County in June revealed some surprising information regarding how young people die. The study looked at who died and broke down the results according to sex and ethnicity. The I-Team isolated one startling statistic on suicide.

The number nine may not sound like a big number, but last year nine children committed suicide in Clark County. They were 15, 16, and 17-years old. And four of them were Hispanic.

Analysts say that number is disproportionately high compared to the number of Hispanic children in our community. Cecilia Hernandez could have been another sad statistic. An immigrant from Mexico, female, and just 17-years-old, some say she is in a category that puts her at risk for suicide. But Cecilia is a success story.

In just two-and-a half years, she has adapted to the American culture. Cecilia learned how to speak English. She has a strong B-average and is a leader at Rancho High School.

"I think I its really hard to come to a new country and learn the language, come to school every day and not know what's going on," said Cecilia.

She says many of her peers have trouble making that adjustment from Mexican, to Mexican-American. "You have like two cultures at the same time and they are like this and they have problems like any teenager," she said.

A teenager facing a language barrier and dealing with a cultural crisis are two possible reasons behind why a young person might consider suicide. Although the reasons are not clear, the numbers are in black and white and the racial divide is startling.

In June, the Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy released the Clark County Child Death Review. A comprehensive study of 148 deaths, it represents 70-percent of the children who died in this county last year.

Nine of those deaths were teenagers who committed suicide. Five were white, four were Hispanic. Four may sound like a small number, but it's four families devastated by the loss of a child.

Researchers say four is a disproportionately high number compared to the number of Hispanic teens living in our community. Those figures mirror a national trend.

Emilia Guenechea is an outreach counselor at UNLV's school of public health. "Suicide is something the Hispanic community don't like to talk about." She says Hispanic immigrants face mental health challenges that aren't being addressed in this community.

"One of the main issues that the immigrant has is depression. We left behind our family, friends, culture everything," said Guenechea.

And she says once families settle here, often a disconnect between children and their parents begins to develop. The kids start speaking English but the parents only speak Spanish. Parents work long hours which leaves less quality time with their kids.

"We need to train the parents to recognize when their kids are at risk. they don't get it when they realize most of the time it's really late," said Guenechea.

Last year, three teens at Cecilia's high school committed suicide. They are part of the nine in Clark County who chose to take their lives in 2006.

Both Cecilia and Emilia say more information about suicide needs to be directed not just to the Hispanic community, but to all parents and children.

"Something that we can do to help them is pay attention to them because before they suicide they really are trying to say I'm going to suicide because they like, say bye in some way," said Cecilia.

This year, researchers at UNLV plan to get detailed information about the circumstances surrounding a child's suicide. They will be asking questions like what was the child's sexual orientation, did they have a history of substance abuse and did the child recently have an argument with family or friends.

That is information they are collecting after it is too late to help the child. There are things people can do now to prevent someone from committing suicide -- there are a number of behaviors people can look for.

Has the person lost interest in social activities? Are they suddenly preoccupied with death and dying? Have they given away prized possessions?

Nevada has the second highest suicide rate in the country for children and adults.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Email your comments to Investigative Reporter Adrienne Augustus.
aaugustus@klastv.com

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=7101352

Quote from article-
Nine of those deaths were teenagers who committed suicide. Five were white, four were Hispanic. Four may sound like a small number, but it's four families devastated by the loss of a child.

I guess its a good thing the white families weren't devastated by their losses like the hispanic families.

This article and the writer are disgusting.What polluted mind would even think to totally belittle the other five families losses like this?

I feel sorry for all the children who died-not just ones of a certain race!

Apparently this article and its writer don't care as long as the suicides aren't hispanic.
I'm sure we can expect more of the same crap in the future as we are all indoctinated more and more.

Maybe the 4 hispanics killed themselves because their parents cared so little about them or their futures that they took them from their native land to become criminals.

As for the 5 non-hispanics, maybe they heard about the Durbin amendment and realised they had no future because all the college slots and jobs were going to illegals.

Sarcasm aside, this is a sad situation for 9 families no matter the race. To compare suicieds by race is beyond sick.

Originally Posted by cayla99

To compare suicieds by race is beyond sick.

Absolutely.
I know it is probably in poor taste to bring this up on this post but-if this were comparing crime rates,it would be called racial profiling.
Strange how the street only goes one way,huh.