There have been 3 suicides and 1 attempted suicide at my son's High School in the past 3 months. We received an email from the superintendent stating that "this coming weekend will be a homework-free weekend".

I honestly cringed when I read it. Here's the full text:"We have been listening to students share their concerns over the past few days, and we want to be responsive about many of them feeling stressed with workload, overwhelmed with the events of the last month, and particularly for seniors, the pressure of the upcoming November 1st college application deadline.I'm writing to let you know that our leadership team has decided that this coming weekend will be a homework-free weekend. There will be no homework due and no assessments on Monday 10/31.We have also asked teachers to continue to be flexible with assessments for tomorrow (Friday 10/28). Students may talk with their teachers if they feel they need to move an assessment from tomorrow to another day. Teachers are being mindful of not "stacking" assessments next week as well.The end of Term I will be moved to Monday, 11/7 to create some breathing room.Our administrators, teachers, and our entire staff are continuing to work to meet a wide range of our students' needs, including some students needing lots of support and others very much wanting the comfort of structure and routine in school. Over the next few weeks, we'll be updating you on some plans we have to respond to other student needs they have expressed.As always, our students are encouraged to check in with their counselor or dean if they have questions or need more information. ​ ​I hope that we can continue to come together as a community and support each other over the course of this school year."When our friend's daughter went to the guidance counselor in tears, they told her she needed to seek outside counseling. They followed up with another email today with a list if guest speakers at the school - all of which are about helping kids cope with the challenges and stresses of school. None are during the school day. There is a suicide prevention discussion to be held IN TWO WEEKS that is off campus.Is it me, or is the school trying to avoid liability or something? The way they are handling it is extremely worrying. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2eCYTW7