Leander ISD Provides Grief Counselors In Wake Of Student's Death

CEDAR PARK, TEXAS — Leander ISD officials are making grief counselors available to Vista Ridge High Schoolstudents affected by the death of one of their peers in a Monday morning traffic accident.

Early Monday, Myles Hutcheson, 17, was killed aer the car he was driving left the road along the 1900 block of Brushy Creek Road and slammed into an adjacent tree line. On social media, mourners from the community described Hutcheson as a friendly young man with a contagious smile in addition to being a stellar basketball player for his high school team.

In a Monday message to the Leander ISD community, school officials encouraged parents to allow students to express the emotions they are experiencing as a form of catharsis.

Previous story: Teenager Dies In Cedar Park Traffic Crash

Children often react strongly to a traumatic event such as this, even if they did not know the student well," school district officials wrote in the letter. "Those who are acquainted with the family may be experiencing additional stress. Our counselors have reminded us that it’s important to allow students to express their feelings about this. I encourage you to do the same. The most important thing we can do is to be supportive and encourage an open expression of feelings."

Out of respect for Hutcheson's family, district officials declined to provide more details on the collision. But they noted the death has had a profound impact on the entire district.

"This news has brought great sorrow to our campus and has impacted many at Vista Ridge High School," officials said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family and friends."

For students coping with the loss, officials said, counselors will be made available at the school. "If your student is experiencing difficulty in dealing with this loss, please contact the VRHS counseling office at (512) 570-1824," officials added.

Other resources

• The MentalHelp.net website offers information about depression help line for a range of adolescent issues. "Seeking help is the first step to conquer depression and begin feeling like yourself again," medical professionals write on the website. "Free, national hotlines are available 24/7 for anyone who needs help managing their depression." To read more, click here.
• The KidsHealth website offers advice on helping a child deal with death, including in Spanish. "When a loved one dies, children feel and show their grief in different ways," the website reads in part. "How kids cope with the loss depends on things like their age, how close they felt to the person who died, and the support they receive." Click here to learn more.
• The Child Mind Institute offers proactive advice to help children deal with grief. "You can't protect your kids from the pain of loss, but you can help build healthy coping skills," professionals write on the website, accessible by clicking here.
• Psychology Today offers an article titled "How to Help Children Deal with Loss," detailing specific guidelines for caring adults. "Children today are experiencing many kinds of losses," author Catherine McCall wrote. "We read about them each time we pick up the newspaper; we see them on TV daily: floods, tornadoes, parents in Iraq, child abuse in day care centers, the list goes on. Gut-wrenching stories of catastrophic loss seem to multiply before our eyes." A retired licensed marriage and family therapist, McCall was a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy before retiring in May 2015 after a 30-year career in clinical work. Her memoir, Never Tell: A True Story of Overcoming a Terrifying Childhood was released in ebook on April 2, 2014, and in print later that month. Read the article by clicking here.
• HealthyChildren.org explains "How Children Understand Death & What You Should Say," while noting that an understanding of death depends on a child's age and development. Read more by clicking here.

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