‘Walk Out of Darkness’ program to offer suicide awareness to Dougherty teenagers, college students

ALBANY — Grade-school students and those now in college went through a lot as a result of being sent home during the worst of the pandemic, from isolation to depression to loss of loved ones from the disease.

With that in mind, local organizers are going to take area students on a walk Wednesday evening to talk about suicide prevention and dealing with issues. The “Walk Out of Darkness” is scheduled for 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at the Albany State University East Campus.

“We know a lot of our teenagers, a lot of people in our community, are hurting, period,” Clinton Johnson, the Stop School Violence project coordinator for the United Way of Southwest Georgia and a Dougherty County Commission member. “I think about 70% of our youths had some type of suicide ideation during COVID. They have had thoughts of suicide or even contemplated doing it. I think it’s even more in communities of color or LGBT youth, that feeling of isolation.”

Johnson said expects as many as 50 to 100 to show up for the event, which will focus on suicide prevention and awareness. Teenagers can be affected either by having those thoughts or if they have parents who are struggling or themselves considering suicide.

“United Way brought all the partners together with the coroner’s office, also the Boys & Girls Clubs and a couple of other partners,” he said.

In some cases young people are dealing with the death of someone with whom they were close.

“During COVID, a lot of youths lost grandparents, parents, maybe aunts and uncles,” Philip Gentry, United Way’s special projects manager, said. “I know nationally, a lot of youths had a lot of trouble dealing with that.

{p dir=”ltr”}”We want this to be uplifting. We wanted to have it located at a place that just embodies liveliness. A college campus is just a thriving place.”

But college students also can feel isolation or failure due to poor grades or a relationship gone bad, Jonnson said.

“We want to give the message that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he said.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler, who has made suicide prevention a priority during his tenure in office, will be among the presenters on Wednesday. He has funded and appeared in public service announcements on the topic, and he said part of his office’s mission is not just pronouncing the deceased but working to prevent unnecessary deaths.

He also hosts a summer swimming program for young people to help prevent drownings.

“I deal with a lot of young people,” he said. “That’s why we do the PSAs. The more PSAs, the more awareness, the more we can try to keep people out of suicide. We don’t want any more young people to commit suicide.”

Young people sometimes feel like the end of a relationship or a failing grade in school is “the end of the world,” the coroner said.

“We definitely want to save lives,” he said. “A lot of people are going through different things in life. Sometimes you’d be surprised. We want to save lives, that’s the main thing.”

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