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First Posted: 9/30/2012

YATESVILLE – Samantha Neaman stood before hundreds of people she never met before Wednesday night and described the night her 13-year-old son, Kyle, committed suicide five years ago.

Pittston Area High School senior Meredith Yozwiak told those same people how being bullied and called fat in grade school led to her eating disorder and that she was “basically committing suicide without knowing it.”

Kathleen Carey, 18, shared how suffering bullying at Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre led to her cutting herself and contemplating suicide.

A public forum at Pittston Area High School to discuss teen suicide and bullying was filled with emotion, concern, questions and sharing of personal experiences as the district responded to the recent suicide deaths of four area students – two of them Pittston Area students.

The forum featured speakers including Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, Pittston Area Superintendent Mike Garzella, Wyoming Valley Drug & Alcohol Services CEO Carmen Ambrosino and representatives of the Children’s Service Center and the Victims Resource Center.

“I felt it was important to put this together as soon as possible because the events that occurred … have been tragic and a great loss for our community and our schools,” Garzella said.

And while investigators have not found solid evidence that any of the suicide victims were bullied, despite widespread allegations, Garzella said investigations into the deaths continue.

“If bullying played a part in any of these incidents, it will not be tolerated in our schools. It will be dealt with. If we need to press charges, we will press charges,” said Garzella, who noted that his own daughter was a victim of bullying. “This is a real crisis and we … need to work together. This is more than we can do as a school system. We need a community effort. … I think there’s more to this than bullying,” he said.

Several parents and adults in the audience said administrators have refused to recognize bullying and it often goes unpunished. Others said it only gets worse if it’s reported. Pittston Area graduate Jill Zaleski, 19, said it wasn’t students who made her feel worthless, “it was some of the teachers,” drawing applause from the audience. She asked what would happen to teachers who bullied students.

Garzella said they would be disciplined.

A man asked the maximum punishment a bully could face if it was determined that a suicide victim was a target. Salavantis said she didn’t want to “get into details as to what can occur” because of the ongoing investigation.

Carolanne Jones, of Children’s Service Center, urged anyone who thinks someone might want to commit suicide to talk to them about it and tell an adult or call Helpline even if asked to keep it a secret. There is help available 24 hours a day.

Ambrosino said the “root causes” of teen suicides in the area need to be found. He proposed creating a Luzerne County Suicide Task Force to make a blueprint of programs that will be “effective for prevention and for intervention and treatment and education at all levels of the school and community.”