Teen suicides 'twice as many as first thought'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Teen suicides 'twice as many as first thought'*
By Nick Britten and Richard Savill
Last Updated: 2:54am GMT 25/01/2008
The number of young people who have taken their lives in the South Wales
town of Bridgend is twice as many as previously thought, according to
the local coroner.
There have been fears a recent string of seven suicides was linked to
social networking websites.
In total, 13 young people in the town took their own lives in the past year.
Philip Walters, the South Wales Valley coroner, has previously said that
in an 11-month period in 2006 he was seeing one case of suicide a week.
At Ynysawdre Comprehensive School in the town, an offer of confidential
help led to 12 girls coming forward to say they were considering killing
themselves.
A task force, made up of the deputy head teacher, police, the local
authority's child protection officer, an education psychiatrist and a
specialist in dealing with suicidal young people, will be convened at
the school.
All 12 girls were friends with Leah Phillips, 15, who tried to hang
herself last week.
Michelle Hatcher, the deputy head, said the school "felt the need to act
swiftly to prevent further tragedies".
She said: "The pupils were so shocked that their friend had tried to
take her own life that they felt the need to identify themselves to us