Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

After fifth teen death on tracks, efforts toward 'safety net' press on
Leaders praise family's openness on son's mental illness

by Chris Kenrick and Sue Dremann

Palo Alto leaders this week expressed sympathy and appreciation to the family of 19-year-old Brian Taylor, who died on the Caltrain tracks last Friday, for publicly stating their son had been under treatment for a diagnosed mental illness.

Though deeply discouraged by the fifth teen train death in Palo Alto in eight months, school and city leaders said they would press on with an elaborate community "safety net" they have developed to identify and help troubled teens and address conditions at the tracks.

The effort, dubbed Project Safety Net, involves up to 20 local agencies in education, mental health support and track monitoring.

"We're all deeply saddened by the suicide we had this past weekend, and I commend the courage of Mrs. Taylor in being honest about her son's mental illness," school Superintendent Kevin Skelly said.

"This is a reminder of the importance of our work around the stigma of mental illness and educating our staff about signs of mental illness."

In a statement, the family of 19-year-old Brian Taylor, a bright and talented Eagle Scout, described their son's four-year struggle with mental illness, eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

"The first, unrecognized symptoms of Brian's illness were repetitive, looping thoughts during his sophomore year in high school," said the family, who lived in Palo Alto for 16 years before moving to Granite Bay.

In the two months before his death, Brian had spent most of his time at the UCLA and Stanford medical centers, where his family said he received "excellent care."

"His acute illness affected every aspect of his life," they said.

School officials were relieved in this case to halt speculation over other possible school-related causes of the tragedy.

Teen mental health is a strong focus of the "safety net" team. National research has found that up to 90 percent of suicide victims had a diagnosable mental health condition at the time they died.

Palo Alto school officials said this week they are continuing to identify students who may be struggling, and a number have been hospitalized. The school district also has organized an upcoming breakfast for mental health professionals who are lending their time to suicide-prevention efforts.

The district also has organized training sessions for teachers, staff and others in a suicide-prevention method known as QPR, which stands for "question, persuade and refer."

The two-hour training, used at Foothill College and Stanford University, teaches people to be "gatekeepers," learning to "recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone to help."

Rob de Geus, division manager of city Recreation and Golf Services and a member of the school/city liaison committee, said the gatekeeper program and training is being extended to staff at the city's Teen Center and camp programs.

"This is a serious community issue and will take everyone working together," de Geus said.

He urged the community to utilize the Project Safety Net site, which has links to local mental health agencies and other professionals where families, teens and individuals can get help and answers to their questions. The website is at www.cityofpaloalto.org/safetynet .

The site outlines numerous education, prevention and intervention strategies, from resilience-skill building to reducing harassment to support for those who have attempted suicide.

The Palo Alto Police department continues to employ a full-time crossing guard to patrol the West Meadow Drive train crossing. The objective is to continue hiring the guard at least through the school year, de Geus said.

Hiring security isn't in the city's budget, so the police department has set up a Track Watch donation site on the Project Safety Net website. So far, about half of the $90,000 needed has been raised, he said.

Contributions can also be made through Barbara Teixeira c/o Safety Net Fund, Palo Alto Police Dept., 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Meanwhile, Track Watch volunteers continue to patrol the Charleston Avenue crossing, and more volunteers are needed. People can sign up at paloaltotrackwatch.weebly.com

Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

Posted by Midtown Parent, a member of the Gunn High School community, on Jan 31, 2010 at 2:19 am

Thank you Sue and Chris (Palo Alto Weekly) for your article, hopefully more people will volunteer. The work will be easier if more people joined.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2010 at 9:06 am

I agree with the sentiment, but I want to remind you that there have been two other deaths recently on the tracks in Palo Alto or very close. The first last year was a 29 year old woman who was in an abusive relationship who died near Charleston and this was just before the first student. There was also a man from Mountain View who died at the San Antonio station, so close to Palo Alto that we think of it as home.

The headline should read seven.

Posted by Lip Service, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2010 at 10:03 am

This is good intentions gone wild. There is no way to protect all the tracks. Brian proved it by standing 150 ft. away from E. Meadow. There were two other deaths on different areas of the tracks.

Have the other Gunn parents been interviewed regarding the causes of their Gunn students' deaths? Brian's was unrelated to Gunn stress. How about the others? It's the BoE who needs to end the rigor of academics in Palo Alto and change the starting times until later so students can get more sleep and finals should be moved to before Winter Break so students can relax during the break.

Posted by Steve, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2010 at 10:32 am

Read the article. Guarding the train tracks is only a small part of this program. The major effort is improving mental health services.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2010 at 3:06 pm

Just to say that finals week, although only 3 days long, was one of the most stressful weeks our family has had in a long time. The studying, projects due (which involved rides to school for our normal biking family), and the changes in starting and finishing times, made this normally calm family very frantic. Fortunately, there was nothing else stressful happening at the time, and the bad rainy weather made it very difficult on top of finals themselves, but I am so grateful that we did not have this week in December when we had so many other things going on in our lives to give us enough stress without finals. Finals even later in January would be a good idea, not included in stressful holiday periods.

Posted by Observer, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 1, 2010 at 8:47 am

Lip Service, Although it was reported incorrectly by the press, the recent incident did not occur 150 feet from the guard. It was further North and in a very dark area. Steps have been taken to increase visibility there, to deny access, and to broaden the scope of the watched area. I suggest you get involved with the education side of the issue as you suggest and leave these efforts to others. It's so easy to attack something, but when you do so with partial knowledge you do harm. In watching the tracks we have prevented tragedies and will continue to do so. Yes, it's not the perfect solution. The perfect solution will mean zero incidents. The best one we have is a city wide effort which is underway through the hard work of many people and includes everything from changing the education system to reducing access to the area to mental health screening. Please put your effort toward one of these positive projects.

Posted by Disbelievin', a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 1, 2010 at 11:58 am

There are at least two Veterans' Hospitals nearby that deal with former military personnel, a goodly number of which have mental disorders and are near death from any number of maladies. Is the Palo Alto Government supposed to protect these people from themselves too?

This is Nuts!

Posted by Mary, a member of the Gunn High School community, on Feb 1, 2010 at 5:05 pm

For over two years, two local school districts have had exams BEFORE winter break with great success (Sequoia & Los Altos). The parents, students, and staff enjoy having a FREE two week vacation. If your December is stressful, try cutting out some of those useless holiday "obligations." Get back to the basic joys of the holiday season - family first!

Yes, slowing down the train and other interventions with the railroad are a SMALL part of the solution, Parents need to get more in touch with their kids. Stop being their friends. Stop stressing them out with unreasonable expectations. Accept where they are and not where you want them to be. Forget the parental unit bragging rights. They are not your prize pig or dog. They are human - therefore flawed - like you.

Posted by Crescent Park Dad, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 1, 2010 at 5:23 pm

I asked one of my kids and some friends about exams before or after the holiday break. They agreed that taking exams before the break would be better...just to get them out of the way. The stress, however, would be same or worse building up to exam week they admitted.

I asked them if they were stressed during this year's holiday break (due to pending exams). The answers were all "no". They didn't study, they didn't even think about school. And BTW - these kids all get mostly A's and some B's.

Maybe not too scientific, but at least a snapshot of data to consider.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 1, 2010 at 7:15 pm

Mary

Do you have kids in choir, orchestra or other school related arts? Because if you did you would realise the amount of extra practices and extra performances are put on during the holiday period? Do you have kids in outside extra curricula activities, because they likely have holiday parties or holiday gatherings? Do you have family, grandparents, etc. come to visit or expect you to have special dinners with them during the holidays?

And do you remember the holidays from when you were a kid or a teen? Did you have fun things going on because it was the holidays?

I think you need to get your priorities rethought. It isn't always the parents who are getting the kids so busy during the holidays, it is school and other activities that get the kids so busy. And for the few fun things that the kids do get to do, are you going to tell them they can't go to something fun or celebratory because they have to stay home and study?

I think Crescent Park Dad has it right. Most of the kids don't spend all winter break studying for finals, it is the parents who think they should be or are arranging study sessions or tutoring?

Let the kids enjoy the holidays, let the kids enjoy winter break and have finals at the end of January when it is dead.

Posted by APs, a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Feb 2, 2010 at 11:35 am

Most AP classes have finals just before the break anyway.

I think it would be LOTS easier to have all finals done before the break, and so do my high school kids who DESPITE the promises from the district DID have homework over break (teachers specifically said they were not following district mandate and could do what they wanted). I do understand the frenzy that comes from all the performing arts though if you review the calendar, most concerts were held prior to the week before the holiday this year (and all could be held a little earlier with planning).

Move finals. Reduce AP classes (don't let kids take more than 3 per year). Start school later. HELP OUR TEENS REDUCE STRESS.

Posted by concerned, a resident of another community, on Feb 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by tactical deterrent, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 3, 2010 at 9:11 pm

The cyclone fencing along the Alma St. side of the Caltrain tracks can be easily scaled by a nimble teenager.

Looping razor wire along the top would discourage suicide prone stealth incursions out of the the view of the paid guards at Meadow crossing