Blog #8 IMHO #1

Story Link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13634965?nclick_check=1

In my humble opinion, I believe the Mercury News' story “Preventing suicides at Palo Alto train crossing,” is a very descriptive and in depth analysis of the suicides that have taken place at the Meadow Drive crossing. However, I live on West Meadow Drive, only a few houses away from the deadly crossing. After doing some research, I find it interesting that the rate of student suicides by train has increased every year since I graduated from Gunn High School back in 2006. From what I can remember, I never heard about any students committing suicide at the train crossing I live near.

It angers me that the Meadow Drive train crossing is gaining notoriety because so many deaths have taken place there. I truly do not understand because Palo Alto High School, located on Churchill Street, is right next to the train tracks as to Gunn High School, which is 1.7 miles away from the closest train crossing. Palo Alto High School has not dealt with student suicides at the train tracks, raising the question, “Are students being pushed to hard at Gunn?” I ask myself this because being a graduate of Gunn High School, I never felt any reason to throw myself in front of a moving train to solve my problems.

This issue in particular lights my fuse well because my sister currently attends Gunn High School. She is a sophomore and has a couple friends whose older brothers and sisters committed suicide at the Meadow Drive crossing. I asked my sister to reflect on the situation and she told me her friends do not understand why their older siblings would do such a thing. According to a news story from ABC News, four teens from Palo Alto who attended Gunn High School have committed suicide all within the past six months. This is indeed shocking to hear, raising questions about parents in Palo Alto. Are they talking and interacting with their children about things such as suicide? Are parents in Palo Alto pushing their children too hard academically? As a resident of Palo Alto since 2001, I would like to know the answers because it would hurt to see a close friend of mine end up in the news as another victim to the Caltrain at the Meadow Drive crossing. It seems as if the Meadow Drive crossing is gaining notoriety, something I hope does not happen because no person wants to live near a place where death takes place all too often.