EDITORIAL: Preventing suicide needs to be a community goal
Sep. 16—Too many of us know of someone who ended their own life or attempted to do so at a young age.
Mel and Todd Hoffner know that pain firsthand with the loss of their 13-year-old daughter Mara in 2021. They have chosen to work with the Greater Mankato Area United Way to bring a suicide prevention event to the community that will help give the issue the attention it needs.
The Hoffners have been in the local community for more than a decade, Mel as a school counselor and administrator and Todd as the coach of the Minnesota State University football team. They are interested in building awareness of the struggles young people have with mental health and for the public to help push for a plan to tackle the problem.
As Mel Hoffner told The Free Press: "The suicide statistics are horrifying, and our children need our schools, medical providers, mental health professionals, researchers, legislatures and community to act now."
She speaks from personal as well as professional experience. As a trained counselor and educator with her master's thesis in adolescent suicide, she has been an active mental health advocate for 25 years, serving youth and adults.
"There is little known about the suicidal mind, and the current prevention efforts aren't keeping up with the increased rates of youth suicide," she said. "We all need better updated suicide-specific assessments, treatment and research now. We were actively seeking mental health options for Mara and found them to be intermittently successful."
Part of that educational process that leads to targeted action is the presentation Saturday the Hoffners are sponsoring. A screening of "My Ascension," a film documenting the story of Emma Benoit, a Louisiana teen who tried to end her life, is 4:30 p.m. at East High School with a panel discussion afterward. Benoit will be at the event.
Also at that day in Sibley Park is Mankato's Out of the Darkness community walk and fundraiser, which supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Registration begins at 10 a.m. and the walk at 11 a.m.
Along with being here for the film and panel, Benoit will return to Mankato later in the month to visit with East and West students.
That variety of events is a strategic way to reach more people when it comes to talking about what is often a taboo topic. More people need to learn about the problem and more people need to be involved in coming up with solutions.
Mel Hoffner captures the urgency of needing to act: "It's a parent's worst nightmare to lose a child. But to lose a child by suicide, it's viscerally heartbreaking and traumatic, and we would do anything to prevent this tragedy for any family."
