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Gunn High School Dealing With Another Apparent Student Suicide at Caltrain Crossing Created by Kimberlee Sakamoto on 10/20/2009 4:22:00 PM
PALO ALTO (KRON) – Gunn High School in Palo Alto is reeling from another apparent student suicide at a Caltrain crossing.
Caltrain officials confirm the latest victim, a 16-year-old who attended Gunn, was killed Monday night by standing in front of a train at the Charleston Road grade crossing.
KRON 4’s Rob Fladeboe spoke to Gunn senior Victor Zhu who says he and his fellow students were stunned to learn that yet another one of their classmates apparently took his own life, “I didn’t know him, but a lot of the kids are taking it pretty hard. The mood at school is pretty down.”
This incident marks the fourth time a Gunn High School student has committed suicide on Caltrain tracks in the last four months. Police say they have prevented eight-to-ten other possible attempts in the same area.
Sophomore Ian Henry says counselors are talking to students and encouraging them to talk about problems that might lead to depression and other mental health issues, “They said if we’re depressed or feeling bad, we should leave the classroom and there are people we can talk with about whether we’re feeling any kind of pressure.”
Gunn High School PTA President Diane Dixon tells Rob that the solution to the on-going tragedy is a question of focus on public health, not suicide.
Dixon says students are learning about resources they can turn to for help other than their parents. She notes that they’re also encouraged to attend upcoming community forums on public health.
Palo Alto police say part of the solution is to take the focus off the Caltrain crossing at East Meadow Street.
As a result, there will be no officers watching over crossings around-the-clock like they did following the previous suicides. But officers and Caltrain security could be seen making the occasional visit.
(Copyright 2009, KRON 4, All rights reserved.) 
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| 4/23/2010 1:28:08 PM
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Anonymous
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| In response to "Suicide is a murder"
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| "Suicide is a form of murder
I am sincerely sorry for the "suffering" which probably .." etc. etc.
It is quite unfortunate to see in this forum such a simplistic and incomprehensible opinion. Just a reminder, this is not a religious forum, please go elsewhere to spill this kind of thoughts.... The matter is extremely painful and blaming these kids for what they did is very insensitive to say the least. Go away! |
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| 4/16/2010 3:19:29 PM
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Kevin Wong
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| I'm a student at Lynbrook, a similarly high-pressure school in San Jose, and I can identify with suicidal feelings due to parental pressure as well as social pressure. Last year I took the Chinese SAT and only scored 780, and my parents' outrageous reactions left me feeling hurt and bitter towards my parents. Because of them, I was pressured into overload my freshman year, taking 2 sports as well as level 10 piano testing and the AP Chinese test, where I was under enormous pressure to get a 5. I have grown to distrust and resent my parent for giving me absolutely no choice in my life. Thus, when I had relationship problems with friends and other students at school, I never once spoke to my parents about my problems. This never happened before but I began having suicidal thoughts for the first time in my life during freshman year. I finally managed to cope by keeping a diary to vent my feelings out in. To me, my parents were, and are still not, a source of help or understanding but rather a figure that constantly pressures me. I am now a sophomore, and no longer harbor suicidal thoughts, but parents out there: think about what you might be knowingly or unknowingly doing to your kids. No matter what anyone says, if your child commits suicide, that is undeniably connected to your relationship with your kids. |
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| 11/1/2009 9:32:35 PM
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Gunn Grad
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| The solution to this problem is NOT reducing Gunn's academic competetiveness, NOR stopping the parents from reliving their youth through their children, NOR reducing the attention and the tracks. The REAL solution to helping stop suicides is by letting your friends, your kids, your parents, even the stranger you pass in the halls or on the street that you care. Sure, it's important to let people know they can talk to you but if someone is so far into depression or stress or anything like that, they aren't going to just randomly come up to you and say hey i need to talk. Some will, but not all. What needs to happen is you need to strike up a conversation with someone who looks down or lonely. A simple "hi" when you pass somebody or even a smile. You will be surprised how far a smile will go. And stop trying to find someone to blame. It's nobody's fault when kids die. That's just part of life. It's a tragedy yes, but people live and people die, that's just how the world works. I think if everyone made an effort to just aknowledge the presence of the people you see, the people you pass, the people you talk to every day. "All we need is love" |
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| 10/30/2009 2:02:17 PM
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Anonymous
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| Kids don't kill themselves because of academic pressure-- they kill themselves because they are depressed. Sure, some kids are less resilient in the face of pressure, or crappy parenting, or too much TV, but we shouldn't blame the parents or pressure or too much TV.
And to the parent who thinks s/he has the power to stop his or her kid from committing suicide if she chooses? Dream on. I lost a good friend to suicide when I was a teenager and NOTHING his parents could have done would have stopped it. Please don't blame the parents of these kids for not being vigilant enough to keep their kids alive-- you are so, so lucky that you haven't had to go through that experience. I know it must be comforting for you to believe that you have control over your child's emotional well being, but in the end your sense of control is an illusion. |
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| 10/30/2009 1:46:40 PM
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Ron Halpern
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| Some Thoughts/Perspectives
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| First some background. I was an honors graduate from Princeton University. At the time, I thought that "achevement" was the be all and end all. However, with age )I am now 60) comes perspective. Where you go is not nearly as important as what you do with what you have to work with. You must learn to value yourself as a human being, not the "product" of some place or somebody. A wise Frenchman once told me that the trouble with Americans is that they don't see or value themselves separate and apart from their "credentials" or their possessions. He was so right. You must learn to value yourself for the kind of human being you really are, not who "they" all think you are. Live within yourself and find value in the qualities that you know make you the person you are. Others cannot, and should not try, to live your life. The very fact of life itself is a gift. Everyday is a gift. Don't become so busy or obsessed that you forget that. And remember, 100 years from now, no matter what our stationwas, real or imagined, in life, we will all be gone. Enjoy the sheer fact of the gift itself while you have it. |
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| 10/30/2009 11:34:09 AM
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First gen immigrant parent
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| Question for students - why the pressure?
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| From a 1'st gen immigrant parent - pls let me know if these are dumb questions and why..
1) Nobody in Gunn is dumb. OK, you won't go to Ivy league, but atleast you'll go to State school or some other 2'nd or 3'd level college right ? How many CEOs are strictly Ivy league ? My Sales VP (successful) says he's from a 3'd rate scool and was a consistent B- student.
2) Any family that lives in the Palo Alto area code is in the six figure income bracket with networth close to $$500K-1 mil if not a heck of a lot more. Not like you're trying to live off food stamps right ?
Why suicide ? Relationships may cause pain but I understood that is part of any and every high schooler ? |
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| 10/30/2009 10:05:42 AM
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Ex Gunn Guy
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| Everyone close your eyes. Imagine you're each of those kids about to thrust themselves before the train. What combination of factors could have possibly led to those moments? How were they similar? How were they different? |
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| 10/24/2009 8:49:42 AM
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student
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| I go to palo alto high school and knew the last "victim" very well. Oddly enough I would have never known he was suicidal. This I think is the problem. After all these suicides the idea is placed in our minds, and no one is giving us other options besides going to our guidance counselor who is also juggling senior college apps and has 300 other kids assigned to them. The news of the past death is affecting us much more then before, like gunn, paly has a gloomy mood around as well. |
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| 10/23/2009 10:32:17 PM
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Anonymous
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| School is a second home to a child. I am sure a child who decided to take his/her own life must have felt hopeless in either environments. In our sociaty we don't allow kids a lot of power - they rely on adults for privileges, guidance and protections. We need to focus on why home and school had lost their functions to raise healthy thinking kids. |
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| 10/23/2009 7:30:15 PM
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Anonymous
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| Suicide is a form of murder
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| I am sincerely sorry for the "suffering" which probably brought that student to suicide; I wanted to kill myself for several reasons when I was a teenager, too. Nevertheless, I definitely blame his "act of killing himself", rather than feeling sorry for him. I believe that killing oneself should be strongly blamed, rather than be felt sympathetic or sorry for. We are never justified to kill another person no matter how terrible s/he is to us. Then, what justifies suicides? We need to offer help to troubled young people, for sure, but we also should show tougher atttitude against suicides. |
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| 10/23/2009 2:19:20 PM
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Anonymous
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| Reading about the suicides at Gunn was not a surprise to me. While my children were at Gunn the school was very clickish and the kids were tough to each other. In interviews with students for scholarships from the Gunn Foundations most students started out saying that they found the school stressfull, not just academically but also emotionally and socially. One of my children had a learning disability and the school suggested a private school because they didn't have time to deal with it. Actually she was the child that did best emotionally at Gunn she was used to not living up to expectations and didn't let it get to her. Gunn needs to take responsibility and not worry so much about their ratings but start caring about their students. |
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| 10/22/2009 9:43:04 PM
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Anonymous
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| There is way to much pressure on kids - I see it with my middle-school niece. School, sports, theme-camps. It's unrelenting. We model it as adults. Slow down, stop and have some FUN. The world will not end if we do that. |
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| 10/22/2009 6:11:21 PM
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Anonymous
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| So sad. Similar situation while I was at Caltech, for a variety of reasons, but over-identifying one's self-worth with achievement was a common denominator in most. When our children went off to very competitive colleges, we talked with them specifically about campus suicide, our expectations, their expectations for themselves, the kind of pressures thy might face, and the fact that absolutely NOTHING would make them unable to come to us, no matter how disappointing. My heart goes out to these parents. |
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| 10/22/2009 10:11:39 AM
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Anonymous
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| How about the ratio of counselors to students? When I was a student there were 4 counselors for almost 1500 kids. 300-400 kids PER counselor? And the students are assigned to their counselors by last name. If you don't 'connect' with your counselor, tough luck. And parents are busy enough, they can't be expected to do a proper job. It's too bad the state government has no money to help out. I think it's a doomed situation that will only get worse. |
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| 10/22/2009 9:54:59 AM
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A Plao Alto mother
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| I feel very troubled about the comments of the parental demand to our kids' academic achievement in Palo Alto. I do hope people who made those comments have some facts, particularly compared with parents from other communities. I know majority parents in Palo Alto, including parents from the three teenagers. We never "design" or "demand" any school and sport performance from their kids. I have two sons, one is in Gunn. In these 10 school years, I have never checked their homeworks, and I don't even read their report all the time. My older son has been in the most advanced math classes, and biology and chemistry honor classes. But I never see him doing his school work past 9 pm. He does a lot school activities (all on his own) including water polo team.
Many of our kids are high achievers because they naturally are, not because we push them. No parent can push their work hard if they don't want to.
Now there are a lot stress factors for parents in Palo Alto more than other communities. A lot of parents in Palo Alto have more responsibilities in their work places. We may not shift clean from work, so we may not spend as much "quality time" at home, including pushing our kids and listening to them. Again, some comments about live our lives through our kids’ are so out of line. We are parents who enjoy successful career as well as our family.
And what about the school, where kids spend so called extra work hours? Do teachers, coaches and adults who worked with them paid attention to their emotional well being other than the subject goals? Notice all three Gunn students spent substantial extra curriculum time at school programs. They were those well round, kind and talented kids, who are so adored by their parents, peers and teachers. However, I am not sure they realize it.
We do teach family values, but I do expect school teach them the meaning of life, the society value, other than science and language subjects.
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| 10/22/2009 12:31:51 AM
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Anonymous
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| I am a parent with a high schooler.
Everyone talks about the pressure blaming the system, society, even Caltrain (for goodness sake!) But the bottom line is every one of us, parents have the power to stop it.
You know it is wrong for kids their age don't have time to do anything but study.
My daughter also goes to one of those high pressure schools and she is very self- driven.
But I watch out for her and stop her from doing too much because she loses balance not only for her life but also for our family life. We parents have to realize we are in charge of these kids' welfare. Parents these days need to stop caring about what others are doing with their kids and start caring about our own kids' needs for happiness in life.
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| 10/21/2009 11:21:04 PM
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Anonymous
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| 1)I would propose to have all the parents donate money to build a booth and hire someone as a crossing guard at the train crossing 24/7 for now before the Caltrain, the city official or the mental health agencies figure out what to do with the situation. Obviously, whatever they were doing are not working.
2) Instead of having the counselling service on campus to make the students "talk", Gunn should just figure out how not to push our kids too hard. In this issue of the Oracle (Gunn's newspaper) there is even an article talking about the Gunn's national ranking drops...please stop focusing on rankiing. I wonder if Gunn would rate #1 for the teenage suicide among the nation this year? |
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| 10/21/2009 10:31:18 PM
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Anonymous
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| We have an obligation as a society to look out for one another. There is a lesson to be learned, and that is compassion, and understanding. |
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| 10/21/2009 8:20:02 PM
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Anonymous
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| Maybe now someone will really look into this. Why has it take FOUR to jump start any sort of inquiry?? This is WAY beyond a coincidence...... |
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| 10/21/2009 6:36:28 PM
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student
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| I am a Gunn High student. I would just like to say that classes are difficult, and students are under a lot of stress. But I just don't think that its fair to say that our lives are so much harder than everyone else's when I know that everyone has their own struggles. I think part of the problem is how we made the first "victim" into sort of a martyr. I knew the first victim and I felt terrible but I still think we are partially to blame =(. Depression is often a disorder, and once a depressed person sees this "idolization" response from the community about a suicide, they are tempted to do the same thing. Hence the succession. |
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| 10/21/2009 5:41:14 PM
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Anonymous
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| parents and school management do need to back off
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| Life isn't about going to ivy league schools! It's about doing your best with a balanced life! School management must stop trying everything to jack up the school ranking. Actually, they should stop participating in such rankings. School needs to limit number of APs students can take. Promote a culture that balances study and fun! |
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| 10/21/2009 5:34:08 PM
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Anonymous
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| I am a student at Gunn and it hit us all very hard. Even the people who had never even seen him would go into clusters and cry together. The problem is not only about stress, it is a mixture of a lot of things. Friendships, relationships, parent relationships, social pressure. If you're having a bad week its easy to crack. |
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| 10/21/2009 2:00:59 PM
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Anonymous
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| Parents need to stop living through their children. We see in the classroom, in sports, etc... Hey parents, get a hobby of your own and stop trying to relive your youth through your children. |
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| 10/21/2009 2:05:28 AM
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Anonymous
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| The Solution? Gunn high school is too competitive. Stop encouraging that bs. Same thing with Monta Vista. |
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| 10/20/2009 8:37:19 PM
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Anonymous
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| They all have it wrong, it is about the stress. I used to teach at Gunn, the students are under so much stress to do so much and to over-achieve. They can't just be kids anymore. Camp is now match camp and physics camp, what about swing from a tire swing camp? What about having FUN? Does anybody ever actually talk to the kids or do they just hear what they think is the problem |
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| 10/20/2009 7:14:54 PM
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Anonymous
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| The Caltrain crossing at East Meadow is not the problem. The cluster of suicides must be addressed as any other disease cluster. Investigators from outside our community must do epidemiological research to find the causes of the cluster and work must be done to eliminate the toxic factors causing these suicides. |
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