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The Parrott Middle School students were discussing suicide, officials say. They will be evaluated at the Harbor.
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2002
BROOKSVILLE -- Four eighth-grade girls were taken from their classrooms at Parrott Middle School and placed in a mental health hospital Thursday after school officials learned that they had talked extensively about committing suicide.
The teenagers were admitted to the Harbor in Pasco County.
Principal Marvin Gordon said a student turned over a note written by a friend who was thinking about taking her life. The student named three other friends who were having similar thoughts, Gordon said. Administrators removed each of the eighth-graders from class and called authorities.
Gordon said the girls discussed family problems and other factors that made them unhappy. He said each had contemplated suicide at some point, and they had talked together about their problems. Three of the girls admitted to mutilating themselves with safety pins or razor blades, Gordon said.
Sheriff's deputies decided to take custody of the girls under the state's Baker Act, which allows authorities to take people for mental health evaluations.
Gordon said the fourth girl was taken into custody because she threatened to kill herself if her three friends were sent to the hospital without her.
Gordon sent a letter home with students Friday.
"We wanted to let parents know what was happening," he said.
Lt. Joe Paez said the teens talked about anxiety over their looks and lives.
"They had different reasons why they felt life was not worth living," Paez said.
-- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 352-754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.