Follow up on the Aquan Lewis story

A few days ago, I posted the news article a young 10 yr old boy who was found dead in his school's bathroom...this is yet another tragic incident involving a child out in the Chicago area

Over the weekend, I was reading a follow-up report that stated Aquan Lewis' mother was allowed to inspect the school's bathroom and she reported "there is no way he could have done this himself." So she's trying to get an independent autopsy done...which is highly recommended...I'm not a mother, but I can only imagine how it feels to think that your seemingly happy 10 yr old child could have the cognition to think of suicide...kids this age are typically resilient...they have so much going in their young lives that they don't have time to be sad, to the point of suicide...I would think that rather than be depressed or have thoughts of suicide, that kids in this age group would lash out and act out

Supposedly Aquan had said to a teacher earlier that day that he wanted to kill himself...now if a kid says that, doesn't it seem like a automatic red flag? As a teacher, wouldn't you tell the 1st colleague or counselor and try to intervene on some level? Call the parents and make them aware of the child's mental state? Schools everywhere are feeling the strain of our tough economy...but to me, that's not something an adult should EVER overlook or toss aside

Now some people want to make this an issue about race...and I don't see it that way...I see this as a magnifying glass on the accountability of school officials...it's about the accountability and responsibility that we have as adults to our children...I look at it in these terms...let's say the kid was being home-schooled and he'd hanged himself on a closet rack or something in the home, who would the police investigate 1st? The parents? Why? B/c that's who was in custody of the child at the time...black, white, rich, poor, inner-city, suburbs, all of that is irrelevant...I feel like this is a classic example where maybe there were signs or pointers that clearly showed the adults in this kid's life that something was wrong...and they would've saw it had they just paid attention


To Be Continued...