“What difference would $10,000 make to your school?” was the question I asked Diane Sommer.

She is the principal of the elementary school in the Four Winds school district on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota.  The school is located in Benson County where 44% of the youth report feeling helpless, being depressed or having thoughts of harming themselves or others.

Ms. Sommer told me that too many of the 750 students K-12 grades in the Four Winds schools have been exposed to suicide in various ways in their community.  For the elementary students, they hear about adults completing suicide, and in the middle school and high school, there is ideation about it by students.

Ninety-nine percent of the student body qualifies for free or reduced school meals, so poverty is endemic.  Jobs are available in the area, but there are barriers to full employment.  Drug and alcohol abuse are major problems in the community, and many children are being raised by grandparents or adults other than their birth parents.

“COVID has had a big impact on the children,” said Ms. Sommer.  She has seen a decrease in social skills due to the months of isolation and remote learning at home.  “The children had few opportunities to talk to people other than their siblings and care givers for too long, and they are behind in their people skills.”

Ms. Sommer believes that the full effects of COVID will be manifested for years to come.  COVID will be impacting the community even after the spread of the virus is managed.

A recently aired CBS 60 Minutes report shows that students at Four Winds schools are not alone in being negatively impacted by COVID.  There has been a 50% increase of suicidal feelings in junior and senior high students nationwide.  The social impact of the epidemic has accelerated mental health issues among teens. 

During the pandemic, which is still ongoing in many places, teenagers have suffered the loss of friends, events and celebrations.  Social media has not been enough to fill the void of doing things together like graduations and birthdays, as well as just hanging out.

Child therapists are in crisis mode as clinical interventions for mental health problems for youth are in short supply.  Youth showing signs of depression, lack of motivation, and eating disorders are having to wait a month or longer to get an appointment with a doctor or licensed provider, and even longer to start therapy.

A fifth grader was devastated by being cut-off from friends by the pandemic.  At just nine years old during COVID, he was isolated, withdrawn and having suicidal thoughts.  He shared his experience to let other kids know that their feelings are valid, and that something needs to be done to help children and youth.

At a recent suicide prevention workshop in Bismarck, the term “suicidal desperation” was used to describe the mindset that might lead a person in a mental health crisis to attempt it.  When someone is in so much pain because of the circumstances of their life, then they believe suicide may become an option to end that pain.

Nationwide, seventeen percent of adolescents (1 of 6) are thinking about suicide at any given time.  So in a church youth group of 20 kids, 3 or 4 of them have had or currently have suicidal ideation. Others in the group are worried about those whom they know are thinking about suicide.  And some have lost someone to suicide, and a few may have attempted suicide but recovered from that experience, and so are survivors.

So what would $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000 mean to 750 students attending school on a reservation in the Dakotas, where suicide rates are three and half times greater than the national average?

Ms. Sommer said it would mean more training for students and staff to learn coping strategies for life’s problems.  The school could pay for guest speakers to inform and inspire students and teachers and help them to find positive ways to address mental health issues.  Potentially, it would mean that lives could be improved and saved.

Please give to the 2022 Miracle Offering: Wings for Wellness,  which will be received at worship during Annual Conference on Friday morning, June 10th.  The goal is $50,000 to be split between Four Winds Schools and Todd County Schools.

 Your prayers for children, youth, parents, care givers, and teachers in our Dakotas communities, including ones on reservations, are even more important.

Your gifts and prayers can and will make a difference, especially for young people most at risk.