In response to Janet's question regarding the Fisher article

I really wish that there was available research examining the relationship (if any) between YA lit/classroom discussions about suicide and the suicide rate in various schools. I realize this is probably a very difficult thing to assess given the numerous other factors involved, however, I am a strong believer in the therapeutic value of good classroom discussion and literature.

Even as a fourth grade teacher I try to pose real life dilemmas for exploration and discussion. Just recently we studied the Underground Railroad and the atrocities suffered by so many African American slaves. After much discussion as to why others felt it ok to treat African Americans as less than human and a classroom consensus that discrimination based on physical appearance was completely wrong, several students bravely admitted that they had had bad feelings about themselves because of skin color -mainly as a result of someone else outwardly bringing this physical difference to their attention or the attention of others. Specifically, students were being excluded from playing recess sports based on skin color because of an obviously incorrect generalization that whites were better athletes.

After our first discussion I introduced the students to several biographies of famous athletes of varying ethnicities as to both correct the misconception and to provide examples of people they could truly relate to. Like Fisher, I have no way to prove that this quantifiably improved anything, but I definitely noticed an immediate mood transformation in many students.

I believe we certainly have a responsibility as educators and as decent people to make students not only feel like they belong but that they have something to offer to the classroom community and the world so that they can combat feelings of disappointment, hopelessness, humiliation etc. that everyone faces from time to time. In my opinion, self-hatred results as a last resort and teachers do have the ability recognize and modify curriculum so that all students are being represented and validated in literature and/or curriculum.