2 teen suicides prompt Ruidoso action

RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE-KBIM) - There's an air of sadness and community concern in Ruidoso following the recent suicides of two high school students.

The leaves are changing colors on the campus of Ruidoso High School where there is also a change in morale after two girls killed themselves within a week and a half of each other.

"Yesterday was a difficult day,” Ruidoso High School Principal Stan Lyons said. "We're providing individual support for the students that are truly having difficulty, and there are some students like that."

School officials told KRQE News 13 it's been a sad and somber mood around the campus.

About two dozen grievance councilors and mental health experts have been brought in to help kids cope with the loss.

The two girls were ages 14 and 16, lived in different communities and were not believed to be friends.

Ruidoso Municipal Schools Superintendent Dr. Bea Etta Harris said that's what makes it hard to answer why these two decided to take their lives.

Some parents have asked the school if there had been some kind of suicide pact, but Harris said there's no evidence of that. The district is working harder to spot any other students who may show suicidal signs, she added.

"What we can do about that is encourage students to talk to their parents," Harris said. "If they know something, then refer them to the counseling staff."

Harris sad statistics show that when there's one suicide there's likely to be more.

"We know when there's a suicide, it's multi-factorial for a single person," she said. "Whatever the issue is we can't pretend it's going away because it's not.

"If it was going away we wouldn't be here today."

That's why the school is working hard to stress prevention to students to make sure another life isn't lost, Harris said.

One of the girls was from Ruidoso Downs. The other was from Mescalero where three other young people have committed suicide since the end of the summer.