Give them self esteem and goals in life. Give them hope ..
I remember when I was told by CPS that my son, who was in foster care at the time, was having adverse reactions to psychotropic drugs they were giving him. I was irate .
First of all my son had never taken psychotropic medications before foster care.
I do not believe psychotropic meds are good for kids in any situation! (or adults for that matter).
Second of all they were giving my son drugs after saying drugs was the reason they took him.
I said to the caseworker, “why are you drugging my child?”
” He’s very angry”, she answered.
” Well of course he is angry…” I began. ..
” You took him away from his home … I am angry too! You didn’t answer my question, why are you drugging my child?”
She pauses then sheepishly began talking ” Ms Murphy … let’s calm down and talk about your son’s anger…
“calm down? No! Let’s talk abou why the f*ck you are drugging my son? Did you call and talk to HIS REGULAR therapist not the so called CPS contract doctor?
did you send him to church? Did you? “
“Um no ma’am we cannot… we do not take children in foster homes to church”.
“Why not??” I demanded to know …
“We are not allowed to” she stated.
“Not allowed to?? But you ARE ALLOWED TO GIVE HIM DRUGS?”
She was stammering by now…”Ms Murphy-were trying to… we are here to help you…”
“No you’re not- I taught my son to turn to me with his problems or to pray about what’s bothering him…i taught him to stand still with God when he got angry, not to turn to drugs when he was angry.
Why are you teaching him to turn to drugs? are you trying to make him an addict? so you can take HIS kids from him one day too?? And you’re calling ME a bad parent? Really?”
I’ll never forget that conversation. so when I read about instances like this suicide I must share my experiences.
May peace find this child’s family.
The parents of a 9-year-old Alabama girl who took her own life believe that bullying and ADHD medication played a role in her death.
According to AL.com,Madison “Maddie” Whittsett, of Birmingham, was pronounced dead at Children’s of Alabama Monday morning. The Friday before, her mother found her hanging in her bedroom closet.
“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else,’’ Madison’s stepfather, Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Lt. Jimmie Williams, told AL.com.
“We talked to one of her friends and Maddie had apparently had a bad day. The friend said Maddie was bullied and she looked sad while she was being bullied,’’ Jimmie Williams said. “It must have really worn her out that day.”
Her mother, Eugenia Williams, said Maddie had been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and received one-on-one help at her school. There had been incidents in which other students called her “stupid” and “dumb” but her parents felt like the issue had been addressed.
Just a few weeks ago, Maddie’s parents said she had been started on a medication to help with her ADHD that listed a side effect of possibly causing suicidal thoughts.
“The bullying plus the medicine, I think, gave her the boost to do that,’’ Jimmie Williams said.
The Williams hope Maddie’s story will help other parents.
“Maybe you can see if anything is going on. Look for changes in attitude. Changes in behavior,’’ Jimmie Williams said. “Support them and be there for them.”
He also hopes children will let adults know if they see a peer being bullied: “Like they always say, ‘If you see something, say something.’’’
Birmingham City Schools released this statement Tuesday afternoon: “Our school community is deeply saddened by the recent passing of a student. Counselors and district-level support staff, trained to help students, parents and school personnel at difficult times such as this, have been on-site at the impacted school today to provide assistance to students and staff in needed of support in processing this tragedy. The death of any young person is a tragic loss that impacts the whole school community, and we send our deepest condolences to the family.”
Eugenia Williams remembers her daughter as “alive, energetic, funny,” and said she loved to dance. Jimmie Williams said the suicide “came out of left field.”
“She just wanted to be your friend. She wanted to be everybody’s friend and wanted everyone to be happy,’’ he said. “We saw that in everything she did.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
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