"Out of Darkness Walk" Information
PDF of poster provided by Jenna Riesterer.
This article was submitted for publication and edited by Charger Press staff for purposes of grammar.
There is a suicide every 12 minutes in America. Every 12 minutes, another friend, parent, brother, or sister takes his or her life. There is a way for you, however, to get involved and help reduce these numbers.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) provides research, education, and advocacy to battle the 10th leading cause of death in America. AFSP is the nation’s largest suicide prevention organization in the US with chapters in each of the 50 states. The goal of this organization is to encourage those who struggle to get help and provide the resources to do so. The organization hopes to reduce the annual US suicide rate 20 percent by the year 2025. That means students like you could save tens of thousands of lives through your support!
Hamilton High School is working with AFSP for the first time, hosting an Out of the Darkness walk on May 16th. There are over 200 campus walks taking place across the country this spring with over 275 thousand people participating. Hamilton is the first high school in Wisconsin to host a campus walk, however. Marisa August, junior at Hamilton High School, says, “I think it’s really great that Hamilton is the first high school doing it because things like depression and thoughts of suicide are things that start in high school.”
According to Junior Samantha Consiglio, “Mental health today has this big stigma about it where people shouldn’t be able to talk about it.” The goal of the Out of Darkness Walk is to erase this stigma around suicide.
Mrs. Hasbrook, guidance counselor and organizer of the Out of Darkness Walk, says, “The mental health issues that are going on right now within all the schools in all the surrounding areas have really risen and so the idea behind this is taking away the stigma of mental health, so people are willing to reach out and get help and by doing that, reducing suicide.”
Students interested in participating in the walk can register online at afsp.org/hamiltonhs. Registered walkers can create a team with their friends and raise money together to benefit AFSP. Check in is 8:00 am and the walk itself begins at 9:00 am. Remember, suicide prevention starts with everyday heroes like you!
