CENSOR THIS! - Kelowna Secondary School

KSS Video One of Top 5 in BCAA Contest
by Jon Derksen
World News
KSS Video Production 11/12 students are in
the running for something grand. On November 7th, 2012, a group
of advanced students submitted their entry “Before You Go” to the
BCAA Dry Grad Video Contest. Days later they discovered they
were in the top twenty, and then the top ten, and this past week, the
group’s video had squeaked into the top five. Video entries came
in from all over the province. According to contest rules, once in
the top five, one week is given for people from around the province
to vote on the top three videos. The third-place winner receives
$1000, second-place $2000 and first place $4000.
By the time voting closed on December 5th,
“Before You Go” was believed to be in the top two (this is unconfirmed,
however). On their website, BCAA said it would be announcing
the top three winners during the first week of January.
Meanwhile, video production students are on the edge of their seats
waiting to find out. $4000.00 would go a long way to help Dry
Grad at KSS.
“Before you go” was created by Lexi Wuthrich, Josh Franklin,
Tegan Morgan, Shanelle Connell, Clinton Pederson and Justin
Koren. They spent two months filming and editing the piece. Check the video out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9PbjEeZDrQ. The Dry Grad
team would like to thank all the people who took time to vote.
BCAA introduced the Dry Grad Video contest as a way to help promote safety and responsibility during the high school graduation season. This
is their way of raising awareness among students, staff and parents, and a great way to encourage safe participation. Photo by Renee Berger
Suicide Awareness: What Everyone Should Know
by Jayden Craigie
Those who have lost loved ones due to suicide have played an essential role throughout the suicide prevention movement in North America,
most especially in Canada. Loss and human suffering are often at the very heart of social change. It is often survivors who channel their pain and
passion to shine a spot-light on significant concerns, bring us together in a common cause and challenge us to do something and get involved. We are
indebted to those who are affected by suicide for their courage, and the inspiration their stories of hope,
healing and resilience quickly bring.
Suicide prevention, like suicide itself is complex and requires a multidisciplinary combined
approach that includes academics, researchers, front line workers, health care providers, policy makers
and those with lived experience. We all have something to learn from each other, all of us having
unique and important contributions to make. Experience, passion, research and evidence, policy and
practice must all be included, taken into account and carefully considered when developing and promoting
suicide prevention strategies and campaigns.
Grieving is necessary and we all grieve differently. Grieving takes time and there are no short
cuts. For some, grief is private and quiet, for others it may be public and loud, for others it is somewhere
in-between. We all need to find expression and outlets for our grief. For those of us who know
the pain of a suicide death grief often involves looking for answers, making sense of something that
refuses to make sense, seeking to regain meaning and purpose, and finding a way to take action. Some-
times such action includes harnessing our pain to mobilize others and get involved in suicide prevention
and public awareness campaigns.
Public awareness can be inspired and informed by our grief. However, there are concerns if suicide prevention endeavours become the means
of expression as to expressing or processing our grief as there are good reasons to keep these aspects separate. Remembering and memorializing
someone, regardless of how they may have died is important to the grieving process and healing. We should however be cautious that public awareness
campaigns themselves do not become the memorial.
It is important to consider the possibility that when one person is featured, those at risk may either overly identify with that person and increase
their risk or conversely may not be able to identify with them at all and therefore feel the message does not apply to them. The potential risks of exposure
need to be considered, including what might happen when a vulnerable person feels their life has no value, purpose or meaning; that no one cares
and are then confronted with very public images and messages that seem to be a direct response to a specific and very real suicide death. While an
individually-focused approach may provide comfort to those most directly impacted by that death by suicide, it may not be the best way to encourage
a vulnerable person to make different choices and change their behaviour.
4 DECEMBER 12 2012 CENSOR THIS
From left to right: Tegan Morgan, Lexi Wuthrich, Clinton Pederson, Josh Franklin,
and Justin Koren. Missing from the photo is Shanelle Connell.
Photo taken from Google