Content via To Save A Life
We live in a media driven world inundated with opinions and politics that sometimes make you want to delete your Facebook account all together. Then you come across a story like this and it makes you think maybe social media isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Brittni Darras is a Colorado Springs teacher who was given some of the worst news you can get as a teacher. One of her students had attempted suicide. The realization that one of her students, whom she loved, was battling something so dark and she had no idea made her wonder how many other kids were battling the same thing. Sometimes it can be easy to forget to tell those we love how much they really mean, just like it can be easy to believe you’re not loved if people don’t remind you.
Brittni decided to remind each of her students how much they mean and wrote every single one of her students a personalized note letting them know just how special they really are.
Here’s the story she shared on Facebook:
Two months ago was the first time I cried during parent/teacher conferences. A mom of a student who I have taught for two years showed up at my table with a list of her daughter’s teachers. Each one had “yes” or “no” written next to it. My name had a “yes” next to it, so she proceeded to explain to me the reason for her daughter’s extended absence. Her daughter—a friendly, intelligent, beautiful, driven, young woman—not only planned to commit suicide, but was in the act of doing so when the police got a Safe 2 Tell report, broke in and stopped her. She had deleted her social media accounts and left goodbye letters; she was ready to leave the world. As her mom sat across from me, we both had tears streaming down our faces. Feeling helpless, I asked if I could write my student a letter to be delivered to her at the hospital; she said her daughter would love that. My student got the letter; her mom said that her daughter cried, turned to her mom and said, “How could somebody say such nice things about me? I didn’t think anybody would miss me if I was gone.” It made me realize that I was way too close to losing another student to suicide. I spent the next two months writing cards to every one of my students—over 100 of them—telling each one what is special and unique about them. Suicide is growing to be more and more common, and I can’t help but to think that it’s a direct result of the pressure we put on these kids—to be successful, to fit in, to be the best in their class/sport/etc. We need to remember that each human being is unique, and that is what makes them special. Instead of trying to change it, we need to embrace it, because together, we can make a difference, and we can save lives! #suicideawareness
The post now has over 200,000 likes and 182,000 shares but it’s the comments that show just how important this act of kindness really was.