Recent suicides at Langley HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What info do want? Suicide is one of those things that in most cases only makes sense to the person who committed suicide. Depression is a terrible illness. Knowing the boys and their families I can tell you that they were both popular good kids from good homes who unfortunately had troubles that overwhelmed them. One of the boys was a football star. I watched him play many times and he had the kind of talent that any player dreams of having. There was no bullying or anything like that. It's just incredibly sad for their families and their many friends. RIP TS and AL.

+1. We knew T well and he was loved at school and home, and was kind and caring and funny and had a beautiful smile. We heard similar things about A tonight. Depression is terrible. Rest in peace boys.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What info do want? Suicide is one of those things that in most cases only makes sense to the person who committed suicide. Depression is a terrible illness. Knowing the boys and their families I can tell you that they were both popular good kids from good homes who unfortunately had troubles that overwhelmed them. One of the boys was a football star. I watched him play many times and he had the kind of talent that any player dreams of having. There was no bullying or anything like that. It's just incredibly sad for their families and their many friends. RIP TS and AL.

+1. We knew T well and he was loved at school and home, and was kind and caring and funny and had a beautiful smile. We heard similar things about A tonight. Depression is terrible.
Rest in peace boys.

This makes me so sad, and worry about my own teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents of dcurbanmom.com,
I am a 17 year old who attends Yorktown High school. Some may claim that because of my age I am immature and therefore not capable
of realizing what is and what isn't appropriate in reaction to different circumstances. It's sad that despite this generalization (that is definitely sometimes
true), I am able to recognize that the things that some of you are posting are completely insensitive and ignorant, and should never be posted on social
media despite the great perk of being able to post anonymously.
The tragedy that has ensued at Langley High school should NOT be taken as an opportunity to rant about the one-sided opinions that you have about Langley. No offense, but no one really cares about the hatred you have for a school, one that you, yourself, never even attended! Really, what does your daughter's or son's personal story have to do with anything?
It's quite amusing to me, that while some of you are utilizing this horrific event as support for your hatred for Langley, your kids are using it as an opportunity to create an even stronger, resilient, high school community. Maybe you should learn from them.
Please, have respect. Do not make up rumors. Do not point fingers. Do not use this tragedy as evidence to support your many arguments.
Most of you, like myself, do not know these boys. You do not know what they stood for. You do not know what they looked like. You do not know the things that they battled on a daily basis. I would bet that some of you do not even know their first names.
Please stop making teenagers like myself embarrassed that there are adults in my community that do not know how to compose themselves online.
There are two families, dozens of friends, and hundreds of classmates that are mourning the loss of two young boys. Please, be sympathetic to that.

With all due respect, because of your age and your inexperience (having never had children of your own), you do not understand that the administration of a school and the school board they work with, has an agenda of their own. They are indebted to politicians and their own aspirations, rather than the parents and children, who through their taxes, pay their salaries.

I live in the Langley community and have a much better understanding of what these boys went through, because my child went through similar, but her own 'brand' of it. When two teenagers feel the only way out is to take their lives, it is every parent's responsibility in the community to fight harder to solve the issues plaguing our children within the school system. It is your job, as teenagers, to band together and support each other. We are the adults and therefore, we are the ones, through our taxpayer dollars and our vote, who can help institute change.

We are fighting FOR you, not AGAINST you. One day, when you have your own children, you will see this much more clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents of dcurbanmom.com,
I am a 17 year old who attends Yorktown High school. Some may claim that because of my age I am immature and therefore not capable
of realizing what is and what isn't appropriate in reaction to different circumstances. It's sad that despite this generalization (that is definitely sometimes
true), I am able to recognize that the things that some of you are posting are completely insensitive and ignorant, and should never be posted on social
media despite the great perk of being able to post anonymously.
The tragedy that has ensued at Langley High school should NOT be taken as an opportunity to rant about the one-sided opinions that you have about Langley. No offense, but no one really cares about the hatred you have for a school, one that you, yourself, never even attended! Really, what does your daughter's or son's personal story have to do with anything?
It's quite amusing to me, that while some of you are utilizing this horrific event as support for your hatred for Langley, your kids are using it as an opportunity to create an even stronger, resilient, high school community. Maybe you should learn from them.
Please, have respect. Do not make up rumors. Do not point fingers. Do not use this tragedy as evidence to support your many arguments.
Most of you, like myself, do not know these boys. You do not know what they stood for. You do not know what they looked like. You do not know the things that they battled on a daily basis. I would bet that some of you do not even know their first names.
Please stop making teenagers like myself embarrassed that there are adults in my community that do not know how to compose themselves online.
There are two families, dozens of friends, and hundreds of classmates that are mourning the loss of two young boys. Please, be sympathetic to that.

With all due respect, because of your age and your inexperience (having never had children of your own), you do not understand that the administration of a school and the school board they work with, has an agenda of their own. They are indebted to politicians and their own aspirations, rather than the parents and children, who through their taxes, pay their salaries.

I live in the Langley community and have a much better understanding of what these boys went through, because my child went through similar, but her own 'brand' of it. When two teenagers feel the only way out is to take their lives, it is every parent's responsibility in the community to fight harder to solve the issues plaguing our children within the school system. It is your job, as teenagers, to band together and support each other. We are the adults and therefore, we are the ones, through our taxpayer dollars and our vote, who can help institute change.

We are fighting FOR you, not AGAINST you. One day, when you have your own children, you will see this much more clearly.

politics and agenda? You are pathetic.

Your kids falling academically has nothing to do with these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if the children were bullied due to their SES?

Sorry, didn't finish. It probably wasn't SES because kids at Langley are either rich or richer. The real issues there are a tremendous amount of academic pressure and an apathetic administration and staff. Morale is quite low

There is no person, school, or community to blame here. These kids were raised well and in a loving community and tremendous school. Their issues are not something we can nor should try to understand on social media so prematurely. For now all we can do is pray for their families and honor their deaths.

If you believe nothing should have been done
differently by anyone, than the problem is hopeless.

I believe there is hope,
if we can only learn to change our ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an LHS father. LHS Students, I support and believe you 110percent. I have observed institutionally supported behavior that definitely is a form of harassment or bullying. Each student should be pat on the back and honored for their courage surviving LHS. Unless you are the chosen few, the institution and many parents do all they can to ostracize and crush you. Remember THIS TOO SHALL PASS. And no one can take your spirit !! God bless the LHS Students!!!

I am the Mom that pulled her daughter after Freshman year. Love what you have to say here, and love with the other PP had to say. It's all very true, especially the part about those who are caring and loving being shocked by this type of environment. We are a tech family, not really into the keeping up with the Joneses mentality. I don't care if my kids are not at Ivy League colleges. I don't care if we are not well-known, etc. My son went private due to his dysgraphic dysfunction - he needed to use a laptop, publics said no dice, so off he went to private. My daughter was very happy with Forestville and Cooper. I didn't expect Langley to be an issue for her.

Mean, uncaring, harsh. I fought like hell against it for damn near the whole year for her, for the other students. Apparently, my telling off of an algebra teacher was legendary. This teacher literally said to all us parents "I don't care if 80% of the class is failing. I won't slow down". My head exploded. I told her if 80% of her class was failing, that was on HER and she damn well better get it together. And that was the nice bit

When I went to dis-enroll my child, I was told that I was doing her a disservice, that only Langley could give her the education she needed. When I went to get her hours spent in driver's ed for the new driving teacher (so he could see what she had covered and re-test her per the DMV), I was told no by the school. The school board then told me that they would make it their business to ensure she did not get her license because they were not teaching her. I told them to take it up with DMV, since her new instructor was accredited through them. Needless to say, nothing ever came of it.

They truly think they are better than other schools.

Just out of contrast, I went to see South Lakes. The staff there were wonderful, warm, encouraging people. The difference was startling.

Your ranting is annoying most of the time, but really disrespectful on this thread.

+100

[Anonymous]

someone said ..

politics and agenda? You are pathetic.
Your kids falling academically has nothing to do with these kids.


It has everything to do with it. Good kids get crapped on because they want to go to jmu. It is part of the social fabric at Langley. My daughter is thinking about VCU and she will not tell anyone because of the same social stress. She looks at the scattergraph which shows that to get into JMU from Langley you need a 4.0. How many of you got a 4.0 in high school?????

And god forbid you actually go to NOVA, you are looked down upon and ridiculed. AND RAGONE AND TEACHERS AND PARENTS ENCOURAGE THIS!!!!!

One of these poor boys left school, he was confused and hurting. Which one of the Langley teachers/admins/psychologists reached out to help him? His friends would try to contact but he wouldn't respond. He was camping in Georgia trying to find his way. Have none of you ever felt this way. No one took the extra effort that was in a position to do so. Langley has a different psychologist every 9 months over the last few years. But don't worry, those are not the AP kids so we don't need to spend the money. There are probably at least another 30 kids in senior at Langley like these 2 kids. I know of 4 boys in my own neighborhood with significant emotional issues from Langley and the social crap. Like the Senior LEAP a program for seniors to experience a working experience, but again it is not for all students. 15% of the students will be excluded like they always are, due to grades but mainly just another way to segregate and remove the bottom kids.

[Anonymous]

PP, is everything always about you?

[Anonymous]

There certainly are lots of pressures on the kids at Langley but I don't find it much different at other top high schools in the area. Depression is a disease and at its heart it is an irrational sadness that cannot be so simply explained. Suicide does not happen because a kid can't do LEAP. These boys were not bullied- in fact they were well liked. I do not think you will find a simple reason why this happened. You will probably never know why it happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There certainly are lots of pressures on the kids at Langley but I don't find it much different at other top high schools in the area. Depression is a disease and at its heart it is an irrational sadness that cannot be so simply explained. Suicide does not happen because a kid can't do LEAP. These boys were not bullied- in fact they were well liked. I do not think you will find a simple reason why this happened. You will probably never know why it happened.

No. It is not different. But many people choose not to move to those neighborhoods on purpose. Like the W districts in MD, toxic.

But some of us recognize it and make decisions not to put our kids in that environment and others say, well other schools are like this so what is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, is everything always about you?

That's Bullis Mom. Her recent statement that "my telling off of the Algebra teacher [at Langely] was legendary" tells you all you need to know.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP; the one aspect of suicide that frightens both kids and adults is the sheer mystery of it. How did these promising young men come to a conclusion that this was their only way to proceed? This is an issue of depression, not bullying. If these two boys were put in another high school, their issues would not have magically been lifted off their shoulders. Just hug your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There certainly are lots of pressures on the kids at Langley but I don't find it much different at other top high schools in the area. Depression is a disease and at its heart it is an irrational sadness that cannot be so simply explained. Suicide does not happen because a kid can't do LEAP. These boys were not bullied- in fact they were well liked. I do not think you will find a simple reason why this happened. You will probably never know why it happened.

This and to the mom poster, please stop making these deaths about your situation. They were not the same. And, btw, my then Langley senior was fine saying he was going to VCU. Sometimes anecdotes are not all that helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There certainly are lots of pressures on the kids at Langley but I don't find it much different at other top high schools in the area. Depression is a disease and at its heart it is an irrational sadness that cannot be so simply explained. Suicide does not happen because a kid can't do LEAP. These boys were not bullied- in fact they were well liked. I do not think you will find a simple reason why this happened. You will probably never know why it happened.

Being sad sometimes is equally as healthy and normal as being happy.

Having no one who wants to hear about your sadness is what's irrational, and can lead to serious consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, is everything always about you?

That's Bullis Mom. Her recent statement that "my telling off of the Algebra teacher [at Langely] was legendary" tells you all you need to know.

the telling off mom earns the title of self centered c bag of the year.

Wahhhhh my snow flake couldn't bring his laptop to school.