Tragic news on the anniversary of the March for Our Lives event.
A second student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has committed suicide. The student, whose name has not been released, killed himself one week after Sidney Aiello, another Parkland shooting survivor, committed suicide.
Her mother, Cara Stein-Aiello, told CBS’s Miami station that her daughter struggled with survivor’s guilt and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Efforts by ABC News to reach Stein-Aiello were not immediately successful.
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In June 2018, Aiello shared on Facebook a post about Robin Williams, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain — all of whom took their own lives in recent years. The post said, “sometimes you need to check on those who seem the strongest.”
There isn't much information about the second student, although he is believed to be a sophomore. To its credit, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the greater Parkland area has put significant effort into supporting their student body through this ongoing trauma, though there's little they can do to keep teens from seeing brutal social media responses. And recent studies have shown that there is a correlation between screen time with teens and suicide ideation.
Without information about this specific student, it's difficult to say what factors played a role in this tragic decision, but it is a good reminder that experiencing trauma like gun violence, can have long-lasting reverberations that haunt victims.
As always, if you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.
