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Eight-Year-Old Girl Hangs Herself

tessaesque

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Eight-Year-Old Girl HANGS Herself

The body of little Tori Blair Wilson was discovered just 80 yards from her house near Palestine, East Texas, after she went missing from a neighborhood barbecue.

Following a weeks-long investigation, an autopsy has now revealed the second-grader died from suicide by hanging.

It also found the pretty eight-year-old had talked about suicide in the past, once even putting her head in a noose in front of one of her friends.

Absolutely heartbreaking. During a news report earlier the local sheriff said that he didn't see a need to investigate any evidence on the girl's body because "our lab doesn't have a lot of free time".
 
That is awful, but I fail to see how an examination of an 8 year old girl would take all that long.
 
I'm hearing about kids who are depressed/suicidal being younger and younger. This is sad, but not completely unique.
 
That is awful, but I fail to see how an examination of an 8 year old girl would take all that long.

No idea. Palestine is a small town in a small county...maybe that has something to do with it.
 
I'm hearing about kids who are depressed/suicidal being younger and younger. This is sad, but not completely unique.

Any theories on way depression is presenting itself in such young children?
 
No idea. Palestine is a small town in a small county...maybe that has something to do with it.

3 words...****ed...up...parents

I dont know if thats the case with this family.
 
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No idea. Palestine is a small town in a small county...maybe that has something to do with it.

That might be it. But I would have though in a larger county it would be more problematic because they would have more cases that they have to handle.
 
In 38 years of teaching, only two students ever said that they were contemplating suicide. I took both of them seriously, and neither followed through on it. It is rare, but kids do kill themselves from time to time, and for much the same reasons that adults do. If a kid says he's thinking about suicide, unless it is a "I'll hold my breath until I get my way" sort of thing, it's quite likely that he is doing just that, and could follow through with it unless an adult intervenes.
 
Any theories on way depression is presenting itself in such young children?

I can't speak for the area in the article, but near me, I see a couple of reasons:

1) Competition to succeed is VERY high. This is mostly projected from the parents onto the kids. Even at that age, I've see parents give punishments if a kid doesn't get an "A".
2) Kids today are WAY overschedules. Soccer on Monday. Karate on Tuesdsay. Tutoring on Wednesday. Dance/Art/Voice/Music on Thursday. CCD/Hebrew School on Friday. Weekends for games for the sports they are involved in. Kids have zero free time just to be kids and are expected to attend all of these things. I read an article, a while back on this. Do you know what percentage of kids stick with activities that they start before the age of 12? 10%. Think about that.
3) Too much structured time with parents, too little "hang out"/emotional time with parents. Everything is about performance, not about who the kid is.

These are the major factors that I see.
 
I can't speak for the area in the article, but near me, I see a couple of reasons:

1) Competition to succeed is VERY high. This is mostly projected from the parents onto the kids. Even at that age, I've see parents give punishments if a kid doesn't get an "A".
2) Kids today are WAY overschedules. Soccer on Monday. Karate on Tuesdsay. Tutoring on Wednesday. Dance/Art/Voice/Music on Thursday. CCD/Hebrew School on Friday. Weekends for games for the sports they are involved in. Kids have zero free time just to be kids and are expected to attend all of these things. I read an article, a while back on this. Do you know what percentage of kids stick with activities that they start before the age of 12? 10%. Think about that.
3) Too much structured time with parents, too little "hang out"/emotional time with parents. Everything is about performance, not about who the kid is.

These are the major factors that I see.

I can't even fathom a lifestyle like that for my kids....when I have them. That's scary.
 
I can't even fathom a lifestyle like that for my kids....when I have them. That's scary.

I know, but it's SO commonplace around here. I know of practically no kids that don't have a schedule like that.
 
I know, but it's SO commonplace around here. I know of practically no kids that don't have a schedule like that.

I want my kids to have a passion, but I don't want them running 90-to-nothing every day to find it. As for grades...my dad pushed me to make good grades but he never punished me when I didn't...at least not unless I had blatantly failed to put in the effort.
 
Any theories on way depression is presenting itself in such young children?

It's really hard to say. Children express mental illness differently than adults - that's one of the reasons it's so hard to get a solid diagnosis. In addition, mental illness can mimic various medical conditions, or even signs of abuse. And young children are frequently either unable or unwilling to express what's going on.

The rate may actually be the same, but now stories like this are getting more attention, and our ability to diagnose is getting better (which is the reason autism diagnosis has gone up so much - we didn't use to recognize more mild variants of autism).

Or it may really be going up. Figuring out why is tough. Fetal (people are exposed to more chemicals now), stress, lifestyle, foods, changes in parental lifestyle... there's a million possibilities. As CaptainCourtesy said, it may also be an effect of the extreme pressure kids are under now. These days, having to audition for kindergarden is not uncommon. Expectations are high and kids are pushed really hard.

All I really know is that this is horribly sad... and, even more sadly, not an isolated case.
 
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I can't speak for the area in the article, but near me, I see a couple of reasons:

1) Competition to succeed is VERY high. This is mostly projected from the parents onto the kids. Even at that age, I've see parents give punishments if a kid doesn't get an "A".
2) Kids today are WAY overschedules. Soccer on Monday. Karate on Tuesdsay. Tutoring on Wednesday. Dance/Art/Voice/Music on Thursday. CCD/Hebrew School on Friday. Weekends for games for the sports they are involved in. Kids have zero free time just to be kids and are expected to attend all of these things. I read an article, a while back on this. Do you know what percentage of kids stick with activities that they start before the age of 12? 10%. Think about that.
3) Too much structured time with parents, too little "hang out"/emotional time with parents. Everything is about performance, not about who the kid is.

These are the major factors that I see.

I dont know brother...I see the stressed out hyperdrive types...but they are few and far between. In my last 24 hours (7p Thursday to 7p Friday) I saw 4, 14, 17, 18 (mentally retarded), 20, 24, 27 37 year olds. Not a one of the was on the fast track for success. The 27 year old was (on the surface) a relatively high functioning housewife. Not too far beneath the surface...Maslows testament.

Might be Im a little jaded tonight. I need a break. But I read the article cited on the OP and there were on that same web page 3 stellar examples of parenthood in action...More extreme...but in the right neighborhood.
 
We should not have a World in which little 8 year old children are in so much inner pain that they hang themselves:(

More and more young people are killing themselves and as adults it is up to us all to do better so that these children do not feel this damn helpless. It does take a village and adults (even childless) need to try to figure this out and it is up to adults to help, to save and to protect these children.

And we need to STOP BULLYING! END IT!
 
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I dont know brother...I see the stressed out hyperdrive types...but they are few and far between. In my last 24 hours (7p Thursday to 7p Friday) I saw 4, 14, 17, 18 (mentally retarded), 20, 24, 27 37 year olds. Not a one of the was on the fast track for success. The 27 year old was (on the surface) a relatively high functioning housewife. Not too far beneath the surface...Maslows testament.

Might be Im a little jaded tonight. I need a break. But I read the article cited on the OP and there were on that same web page 3 stellar examples of parenthood in action...More extreme...but in the right neighborhood.

Most that I see fall into a couple of categories:

1) Pushed towards success/perfectionism.
2) Lack of attention due to other family issues (parentified child)
3) Lack of acceptance by parents (often with sexuality issues, but also certain career/school/activity choices).
4) Some sort of verbal/physical/sexual/emotional abuse from parents or others, including bullying.
 
Don't know why I am thinking of this - but kids in my old neighborhood don't play in the streets anymore. They're indoors and on the internet, or playing video games.

It's hard for me to judge the newer generation because I am fairly removed from them, but it seems like there's a growing disconnect.

Our children are not meant to be put into schedule factories to be crammed full of disciplined things. Kids need fun and frankly so do adults. Life is not supposed to be SO serious all the time otherwise it gets soul crushing.
 
Don't know why I am thinking of this - but kids in my old neighborhood don't play in the streets anymore. They're indoors and on the internet, or playing video games.

I agree with you 100%. When I was a kid, during the summer, my friends and I used to play outside all day, pretty much every day. Instead of play games on the internet, we INVENTED games.

It's hard for me to judge the newer generation because I am fairly removed from them, but it seems like there's a growing disconnect.

Our children are not meant to be put into schedule factories to be crammed full of disciplined things. Kids need fun and frankly so do adults. Life is not supposed to be SO serious all the time otherwise it gets soul crushing.

Yup. I agree.
 
Any theories on way depression is presenting itself in such young children?

There is a lot of different answers to this..

Society or economy.. Most child now a days are raised by school and day care.. Gone are the days where one parent works and one parent stays home and raises kids.. Sure some rich families can afford to do it.. But by in large, most families can't.. Both parents must work in order to make ends meat.. The loss of that time with a parent has a huge impact on kids.. They loose some feeling of stability, they also lose the support network they need to deal with the problems of being a child.. When I had a bully issue when I was little.. I always reminding of the golden rule.. 'Sticks and stones may break your bones but words can never hurt you.'.. You would be surprised how many children have either never heard it or simply don't understand it..

Parents.. Many of them don't take the time to simply raise their children and be a part of their lives.. Technology isn't doing kids any favors.. With parents like Gameboy, Wii, PSP, xbox, and computers.. Who needs real parents?? Parents love them cause it keeps the kids out of their hair and quiet.. Yet secretly they can and do cause issues like depression or other social disorders.. If a child spends most of their time playing games, they don't learn the social skills needs to interact with people.. Nor do they learn the defenses needed to tolerate interacting with some people.. Like Bullies..

Divorce is also taking a toll on the well being of children.. There isn't much to say here other than they can seriously damage a childs sense of stability and family.. I have my thoughts as to why the divorce rate is so high.. But will save them for another thread..

School.. Teachers no longer have the authortiy to punish children.. There is no discipline being taught at school and they aren't getting it at home either.. I am old enough to remember being in class and there as a paddle hanging on the wall that everyone was affraid of.. Nobody back talked the teacher either.. I can remember students getting smacked on the hand with a ruler.. Or sitting in a corner.. Sadly none of that is legal now.. While in some ways CPS has been a savior to children, it has also turned out to be their curse..

Society again.. CPS, mentioned above has also detered parents from disciplining their children.. For fear of losing their kids or having them taken away.. Parents in many respects simply can't discpline their children.. If you look at kids today.. That is the quality they lack the most.. Discipline.. Some teenagers even learn that CPS can be a means to do what they want.. They know mom or dad won't punish them because they can call CPS or go to their school teacher..

So there are a lot of issues that are not helping children grow up properly.. There really is no one area we can point a finger and place blame.. Changes need to be made by parents.. Society or the economy needs to change to allow for one parent to stay home.. Schools need to be allowed to punish students as well as parents.. Children need discipline.. They also need to the love and support to deal with all the mean people they are going to meet in their lives.. Less time on video games and more time playing with other children would also help.. They need those social skills..
 
We should not have a World in which little 8 year old children are in so much inner pain that they hang themselves:(

More and more young people are killing themselves and as adults it is up to us all to do better so that these children do not feel this damn helpless. It does take a village and adults (even childless) need to try to figure this out and it is up to adults to help, to save and to protect these children.

And we need to STOP BULLYING! END IT!

How many kids killed themselves when we were kids? It seems to me we are raising weak individuals that can't handle the world. When I was a kid I was thought the world was a harsh reality and how to deal with it. I was thought that I might not win, I might have to deal with jerks, I might be hated, it was just part of the world. Today, I just don't see any of that. Today kids are weak, and not thought to deal with life. I'm honestly not surprised the weak kill themselves off. We need to stop raising weak children.
 
I had serious thoughts of suicide when I was young and 1 half hearted attempt. Not as young as 8 but around 12-14.

I had a very controlling mother. Now I know that many children feel that their parent(s) can be unjust and over baring at times but my mother I believe was an extreme example. It affected every aspect of my life and not only when with my mother.

Just some examples of my life but not nearly all are:

I was not allowed to play with other kids. Now this did not include everyone. I was allowed to play with a cousin but he lived in another town so I may only see him once a week when my mother would visit my aunt. The rest of the time I was forced for the most part to play alone with no child/peer interaction.

I was not allowed to participate in any holiday function. I never received for example a Christmas present nor did we ever have a tree. Any school function that promoted holidays I was not allowed to participate in. Things as innocent as making hand turkeys for thanksgiving or Christmas carrols was not permitted. I was required to do other things instead. Sometimes I would be sent into the hallway at school to read while all the other children participated. I was sent into the hallway every morthing while the Pledge of Allegiance was said. This was due to my mothers religious beliefs but it had a deep affect on me socially. It completely alienated me.

The above issues combined had a large influence on how I was viewed by my peers and I was always the "odd ball" and at the bottom of the social chain. I was often bullied and ridiculed for being different. I dreaded every single day of school for fear of bullies. I was beat up a number of times.

My mother was still picking my cloths out at 14 years old and forced me to wear what she chose. I could not choose for myself (at 14 I left my mothers care).

I was forced to sit completely still and quiet for hours with no entertainment (sometimes as long as 6-8 hours), no toys, no tv/radio, nothing just me and the chair, even when young (5 years old). This wasn't a punishment, it was so that I didn't "bother" my mother because she wanted her "self time".

My mother was very selfish and stingy when it came to the kids. My father made upper middle class living. While (no exaggeration) my mother may go shopping and spend $300 (alot of money back then) a week on things we did not need often giving it away to family because we had no room for it (I believe mother was a shopping addict) I could ask for a $0.96 hot wheels car and would be denied because "we couldn't afford it". My father told me that my mother would tell him that she was jealous of her children and so they should have less. When I was a little older and understood what she was doing I felt unloved and unworthy of things.

As I got a little older I started questioning my mothers actions. I was sent into counseling for behavior problems. I was not a bad kid and I never got into trouble I was just old enough to understand my life wasn't a typical one. I spent many years in therapy and counseling going from one DR. to another. I later found out from my father the reason I was constantly being moved from one to another was because they were finding out that I was a pretty normal child and began to suspect my mothers antics. As soon as they confront her about these things she would pull me out of there care and place me somewhere else. My mother would tell me that I was so bad that they couldn't help me so we would have to try someone new.

My punishment could be severe for minor things. My mother liked to beat me with and extension cord for misbehavior.

Between hating home life because I was left alone and constant bullying and ridicule from schoolmates I felt worthless and unloved. Being young and dumb I felt life would always be this way. No body wanted me and I was a bad person.

Now you may be wondering where my father is with all of this. He worked 16-20 (yes that much) hours a day to give us good financial support. He largely did not see much of what was going on because he was never home. As a kid I assumed that my father knew and was part of it. I was ignorant and assumed parenting was a package deal and if one did it the other supported it and knew about it. When he did finally catch on to what home life and my mother was like he left her and I went with him. I believe this alone saved me.

Now reading this you may be thinking "that doesn't sound that bad" but these are just a few of an extensive list. Perhaps I was just an over impressionable kid, I don't know. Maybe I was really messed up, I don't believe it but I suppose its a possibility. All I know is I was miserable almost every second of my early childhood.

I haven't spoken to my mother in over 10 years. When I became an adult I tried to make amends but found she was unwilling to admit or show any remorse for anything. She still blamed me for her and father breaking up. I was still a big failure and she treated me as such. So I finally turned my back on her. I don't need her in my life.

It has had lasting affects. To this day I am still very anti social and the internet is my main source of socializing. I do not like to be physically around people but still crave interaction.

I can however understand the emotional pains and hopelessness that some children go threw. Not being experienced in life they may view it as I did and that is, life will always be that bad.

Gosh I hope all of this didn't come out as a whine.:doh I just wanted to add to the discussion on lives that children end up with that can make them consider suicide.
 
...a tragedy.

I wonder.
 
Most that I see fall into a couple of categories:

1) Pushed towards success/perfectionism.
2) Lack of attention due to other family issues (parentified child)
3) Lack of acceptance by parents (often with sexuality issues, but also certain career/school/activity choices).
4) Some sort of verbal/physical/sexual/emotional abuse from parents or others, including bullying.

Clinically, I see those folks. From a suicide standpoint, I see the bottom three. I think the protective factor in the first instance is thta even though the kids are being driven hard by their parents, In MOST (most...maybe even a simple majority...but still most) cases the parents drive is honorable, if not misguided and at the very least they are actively involved in their lives.

It can be very frustrating when talking to the parent of a self destructive child and they demand you fix the child (usually within a week or two) and repair the damage they have been doing to the child their whole lives (yeah...no prob...I can un**** Jr in 6 weeks...and after we are done, who are they going to go live with? Cuz if they go right back into that home environment...well...). Meanwhile...the slightest suggestion that maybe in addition to working with Jr, mommy or daddy would benefit from some therapy as well is met with a snort of disdain. After all...its not the ADULT that has the problem. Well...maybe they did...once...but they are fine now.
 
Let us not turn this into a political spectacle.
 
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