Help Teens Survive Life this Weekend

Suicide rates among teenagers in Comal County vary between one to three per year, but when New Braunfels-based Communities in Schools implemented a Signs of Suicide program last year, the group was inundated with students who said they were thinking about it or already made plans for it.

“Where do these kiddoes go?” asks Crisis Center of Comal County (CCCC) Executive Director Stacy Hill. “You don’t need bruises on your face. Statistics determined the number one reason kids feelthe way they were feeling is because of family or personal relationships.”

CCCC will attempt to answer this question at their booth at Surviving Life-Help at Hope for Teens, sponsored by Mental Advocacy Partners – New Braunfels, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at McKenna Events Center, 801 W. San Antonio St., New Braunfels. To learn more about event, click here. The event is open to the public — including parents, teenagers and children.

This come-and-go event features:

• Real-life struggles and solutions shared by students from our community
• Stories of loss displays
• Expert panel discussions
• Community partner resources
• Mandy Majors Author of TALK and Executive Director of nextTalk, a non-profit organization helping families build a culture of conversation to keep kids safe in the digital world.

Hill said there mental-health resources available for residents in Canyon Lake and Comal County, but CCCC’s services are free.

“This falls under our wheelhouse,” she said. “Our focus is domestic violence and sexual assault. Domestic violence is not just physical,it’s emotional, spiritual and financial.

CCCC is  already on the ground at Canyon High School teaching healthy relationship, consent and boundaries. The group also works in other high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools in Comal ISD. It’s hired credentialed therapists to provide free counseling services to children and their parents.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she said. “As parents, do we really teach consent? Do we really use these words? You can’t be drunk and give consent. We’re getting out and talking about it. We’re getting kids to open up.”

Hill said it’s never too soon to open a dialogue with children — or teach them to call a penis a penis instead of using slang words.

“You don’t call your arm an appendage,  you call it an arm,” she said.