DIGITAL DANGERS Aurora student’s suicide highlights need to support, protect kids
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or by dialing 988. Burrell Behavioral Health’s 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-800-494-7355.
You've heard me say it and sing it. You've read the words on paper. You've seen me dance to it, too. “That's what friends are for.”
Gladys Knight and the Pips crooned it at my son's wedding and it was the backdrop for our mother/son dance. I remember looking back at my table of buddies on that November night. This song was for all of us … an ode to friendship, where we had all been together and full of promises for the future.
Faith. Family. Friends. Integrity.
Those are the things that matter most to me. Those are the things that matter most to the people I love … my tribe … my brain trust … my circle.
Two of those friends, who I consider family, are Brad and Kari Boettler. They, too, are educators who wear multiple hats in our community. In the face of a personal tragedy and the loss of their son, Evan, to suicide on Jan. 3, they have joined forces to go public in an effort to save lives, educate others and change laws. I am so incredibly proud of them.
In the wake of an intense police investigation that they personally requested in the wake of their son's Jan. 3 suicide, new details have emerged involving extortion, fear and lives changed in the period of a few hours' time. The investigation is ongoing at the local, county, state and national levels.
The press release has literally gone viral. The decision to release some of the information was personal and intentional. The Boettlers want people to know Evan was a victim. We didn't really miss anything in terms of a mental health crisis. There was no lengthy plan. No downward spiral. No series of red flags.