TKC QUESTION OF FAITH: HAS REPORTED ROCKHURST TRAGIC SUICIDE HAMPERED KANSAS CITY CATHOLIC HOLY WEEK?!?!
It's Holy Thursday and tonight Catholic throughout Kansas City will gather to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Gospels. However, the celebration will take place in the shadow of death for many of the local faithful.
To wit . . .
DOWNPLAYED BY KANSAS CITY MAINSTREAM MEDIA, ROCKHURST CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL SUICIDE RESONATES THROUGHOUT METRO FOR MANY LOCAL YOUNG PEOPLE!!!
Students in Shawnee Mission High Schools and a few other local Catholic schools wore blue ribbons this week in support of the students and families of the Rockhurst High School community, following the reported suicide . . .
The reality is that suicide rates are rising rapidly among young adults in the U.S. and most parents, regardless of religious affiliation, are woefully unprepared to cope with the trend.
While Church attendance is linked with lower suicide risk among Catholics, confronting pop culture trends has always been a challenge posed to the faithful.
Real talk: The key to lower Catholic suicide rates might not be the hope that Church attendance provides but the fear of God that is instilled within most denizens of this sect. Old school Catholics have always been taught that suicide is a one way ticket straight to Hell with no mercy, forgiveness or chance at redemption for all eternity. It's a cruel teaching that contradicts current mental health care guidelines but it has mostly proven effective . . . Until now.
Fact is, overall, U.S. suicide is at an all time high and during this Holy Week, Catholics in Kansas City are forced to confront the impact of this trend on their community as well.
Developing . . .
The blue Tuesday stunt didn't get as much play from the local press as the sex assault black ribbon memorial last year.
ReplyDeleteSuicide is a bummer and nobody wants to talk about it. Maybe a warning to young people who think that it's the right way to get attention, in the end people just forget and want to get on with their lives.
Most u.s. Catholics are the cafeteria type and they don't know Church teachings from the easter bunny. Literally
Delete20 grand a year for tuition and they don't have any real school counselors? That's a shame.
ReplyDeleteGet the facts...wrong on both counts. Tara Hall Assistant Director of Admission, Rockhurst High School
DeleteThank you very much. They have no idea what the facts are and Rockhurst and the community has done an excellent job in helping these boys through a horrific tragedy .
DeleteMaybe the kid was just depressed, a medical condition. A high school girl in Sedalia committed suicide due to bullies this week also.
ReplyDeleteRockhurst is a very closed door school. They are keeping very quiet about this as I'm sure they don't want the bad PR. They don't allow impromptu parent visits or cell phones either, so it may be time for them to open up just a little. They are known for tough discipline and tough academics. If they stay absolutely silent, folks will begin to talk amongst themselves, which may not be a positive thing for the school.
ReplyDeleteEvery kid in the building has a phone on their person. Again, if you have no ties to the school and no real facts, find them out before you spew misinformation.
DeleteI am sure they have counselors at Rockhurst. Rockhurst does not cost $20,000 per year. Barstow and Pembroke Hill are $20,000 per year. Rockhurst probably gets away with lower tuition due to subsidies by the Catholic church, since they are a Catholic school. I am personally more impressed with Barstow and Pembroke Hill, but I guess you get what you pay for. These schools have smaller class sizes, a great academic program and a great environment for the kids every day, without intense discipline and a more open school. Rockhurst does not allow impromptu parent visits or cell phones at their school. Many parents who like Rockhurst are looking for "structure" for their wayward boys.
ReplyDeleteThere are ZERO subsidies from the Catholic Church. Parents can come to school any time but not disrupt classes. There is no intense discipline...please cite facts. Every kid has a cell phone. There are not 1000+ wayward boys but there are 1000+ Men for Others.
DeleteRockhurst high school is more like $12,500 per year.
ReplyDeleteI am a recent Rockhurst HS tuition payer. Several years ago tuition was less then $10,000. Catholic schools do not pay high salaries.
ReplyDeleteDiscipline is extremely important for young boys. Rockhurst has zero tolerance of drugs and alcohol. Even off-campus.
School discipline is no substitute for parental involvement and support. Girls and boys need discipline, guidance and affection. Broken families and absent parents make it tough for kids. You don't want your daughter to hang out with a Kylr Yust. Or your son to grow up to be like him. Do you know where your kids are every night?
Tony may wish to link Star article today.
Pray for this RHS student and his family.
"Rockhurst has zero tolerance tolerence of drugs and alcohol".
DeleteDumbest thing I've read yet.
The school is a mess of boys doing everything they can to get "high" without getting busted. And it's well known that the school is a great place to find manufactured drugs that don't show up on a typical drug test.
Broken families aren't the cause of this kid's demise. It's foolish, niave parents like yourself that are the cause. You can pray until your blue in the face. Won't change this outcome.
Thank you! I find most of these comments extremely incorrect and lack the proper information.
DeleteRockhurst has handled this horrific and tragic situation of the loss of a beloved 15 year old boy with immediate support, resources, love and gracce, as well in a very honorable and respectful manner to this boys memory and sensitivity to his family.
So please know that posting information without knowing is hurtful and reckless.
Thank you,
The mother of the boy who lost his life
Kylr Yust? I'm sure most high school kids are not serial killers, whether they attend public or private schools! Having a tough, militaristic type school also doesn't ensure that the kids at that type school will not misbehave.
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't know a military vet who doesn't have some issues with violence? Discipline doesn't necessarily mean everything.
ReplyDeleteNone of the private schools pay their teachers very much as compared to public schools.
ReplyDelete3:16 Idiot.
ReplyDelete3:29, to say that military vets have issues with violence and that if you are in the military you have discipline is just a fact. It doesn't mean that all military vets are people who have problems, but of course, many of them do.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the suicide had nothing to do with school.
ReplyDelete3:16, lots of my family are in the military and none of them are naive or disillusioned enough to believe that being a vet means that you are a perfect person.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather who was a marine & fought his ass off all over the Pacific & had big chunks of flesh missing on his legs & his torso,both sides & was decorated for bravery & killing the fuck out of a bunch of japs,didn't have a mean bone in his body. All he did was raise four hugely successful great human beings. He did drink his ass off but still was never violent.I have two uncles who fought in Nam & are & always have been exceedingly non-violent. No they weren't perfect people, who is? But violent...never
ReplyDelete"It doesn't mean that all military vets are people who have problems, but of course, many of them do." Baloney. A few do. The majority, by far, don't.
ReplyDelete4:26 what do you mean never violent?
ReplyDeleteThey killed people didn't they?
So don't be stupid.
You are in denial.
They need to allow girls. I'm about to kill myself by way of masturbation. It hurts so good but suicide by chaffing is also sin said me priest. But I'm still not going to touch his balls.
ReplyDeleteAt least in the 1990s the only people who willingly went to Rockhurst were old money Catholic families.
ReplyDeleteMost of the people they admitted were behavior problems who had gotten into fights or had trouble with the law at BVN or SME.
There is even less reason to go there now that Saint Thomas Aquinas exists for people who want to live in the suburbs AND send their kids to private school.
Barstow and PemHill took their fair share of behavior problems too. But they required that the parents have serious f-u money and the kid be merely slow or have learning issues- not be violent or a sociopath.
I agree with the poster that Barstow and Pembroke are the two best schools. Although now that anyone can get into an Ivy (10% admit) from a public school and elite liberal arts colleges like Smith, Colby or wherever is anywhere from 25% to 50% you don't need a Pembroke diploma to go somewhere else than a UM system school.
Smart parents would be wise to take that 20k x 4 and put it into a trust fund. With the arms race with college, nearly everyone has to pursue postgraduate education now.
A slow kid can't make it at Barstow or PH by the time they get to high school.
ReplyDeleteThe suicide rate at Rockhurst High School is 5 times higher than the Missouri State average for high school students. If that's not cause for concern, what is? And if you question the statistics, look it up. They lost one from the senior class last year and another from the freshman class this year. The student population numbers are public knowledge. So it's indisputable.
ReplyDeleteOh brave Anonymous-- where oh where do you get this "fact"? It is so irresponsible to say this when you are so far from the truth and real facts.
DeleteI DID LOOK IT UP...
DeleteFROM THE CDC...
The percentage of students who attempted suicide (one or more times
during the 12 months before the survey), 2015. The values range from 5.9% to 12.7%.
Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont,
Virginia, range from 5.9% to 7.8%. California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana,
Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, range from 7.9% to 9.5%. Arizona,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, West Virginia, range from
9.6% to 10.4%. Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Wyoming, range from 10.5% to 12.7%. North Carolina, Maryland, did not
ask this question. Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah
and Wisconsin did not have weighted data. Minnesota, Oregon and Washington did not
participate.
Rockhurst has over 1000 students. The Missouri rate is roughly 10%. So if you are saying Rockhurst has 5 times the Missouri rate, then over 500 RHS students would have taken their lives in the last year. Really, PLEASE STOP BEING SO IRRESPONSIBLE.
I question the stats and did look it up. According to the CDC, the Missouri rate for high school aged students is 10%. Rockhurst is at .01%. Where are your stats from?
DeleteSuicide was a result of a break up, sources say. All these speculations are just hilarious. Everyone has a soapbox.
ReplyDeleteKeeping this quiet is as damaging to the cause as universities that try to hide the incidents of rape on their campuses. We need more awareness and education not less. Rockhurst should do the right and decent thing for everyone in the community by opening up and using this incident as a spring board to put themselves out there as leaders in the cause against teen suicide by opening up dialogs and sponsoring education sessions in the name of the teens who have resorted to such extreme measures. Several years ago, an Olathe high school had a string of suicides and they brought in the equivalent of a mental health SWAT team to educate and support not just their own population, but that of surrounding communities. Rockhurst should do the same and be a leader instead of hiding and hoping it will all just go away. Hiding and ignoring only feeds the negative associations of Catholics with horrific scandals and cover-ups. Stand up and "Be The Church" as the Apostle Paul instructed!!!
ReplyDelete10% is an abomination. 1 child list to suicide is 1 too many. We have a problem. We must bring this crisis to the forefront of our communities actions.
ReplyDelete10% is an abomination. 1 child lost to suicide is 1 too many. We must bring this crisis to the forefront of our communities actions. Parents, schools and medical professionals should share in the responsibility of awareness. Funding to promote awareness should come from our communities as well. There needs to be dedicated funding for this crisis as has been provided for awareness around alcoholism, drunk driving and drug abuse.
ReplyDeleteGo Tara Hall!
ReplyDeleteYou sound like an amazing human and advocate for these young men.
Keep fighting the good fight.
Like any extremely difficult and sad situation, most people don't know how to act or react.
I am a product of Rockhurst High in the 90's.
My parents chose for a couple of us to go their, my other bro to SME & my sis to Aquinas.
We all turned out okay, except the other one who went to Rockhurst.
"Men for Others" is not just a Rockhurst slogan, but a mantra on how we live our lives. We are Catholic, but, just as important, spiritual beings with a soul.
I used to call these problems "first world," but not if we're taking our own lives.
I have five kiddos and we sit and talk about what we do and where we go when extreme sadness kicks in.
Rockhurst and a lot of schools have been a great, supportive shoulder for us all to lean against.
A little rambly, but mainly wanted to show support for The Rock and Tara.
Thanks again Tara...
Anonymous Elliott
Saved as a favorite, I love your web site!
ReplyDelete