Youth Suicide Prevention : A Question of Credibility

Part I   :   Looking Back

The words “youth suicide prevention” have a positive ring to them, yet all is not what it seems with this issue. Some so involved have a quite different agenda from their stated one, such as exploiting the problem for personal or ideological ends.

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The tragedy of youth suicide is a most worrying issue in New Zealand. Moreover, although not widely known,  it is associated with a burgeoning and exploitative bureaucracy, and all in the noble and compassionate name of “suicide prevention”.

I want to discuss the present-day aspect  in a later, Part II,  blog, but first thought a brief historical background would be useful, even vital if one is to appreciate what is really going on with the present day situation.

As long ago as 1986 youth suicide cases in NZ apparently were uncommon, yet emotive newspaper articles on the subject began appearing. This brought a stern response from Auckland Psychiatry Professor John Werry, who warned against “scaremongering….not mentioned is that suicide is uncommon among adolescents”.(1) All to no avail however. So in 1988 he also warned :-

            “Suicide prevention programmes do not work….extreme caution is needed before NZ rushes in to a large-scale  public examination of suicide…(such examination) had much in common with pornography….it used young people for adult gratification..While I  sympathise with do-gooders…I cannot condone the expenditure of public monies….for such purposes except as properly constructed research projects.”(2)

There Professor Werry was  reacting to news that a 1988 Telethon grant of $150,000 had been made to homosexual activist Barry Taylor for his National Youth Council’s new “Mental Health Project”.(3) Although not overtly homosexual at that time, nevertheless he was on record as expressing on homosexual radio a “Utopian dream of a society with no distinction between homosexual and heterosexual.”.(4)

By 1991, despite appearing to have no relevant qualifications, Taylor was employed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs, which was sponsoring a major NZ-wide series of “Youth Suicide Prevention Workshops” for Taylor to run, and much at State expense. This was  justified by vague reports of  “soaring” youth suicide rates in NZ.(5)

With this and much more also in mind, in February 1991, as secretary of Credo Society, I wrote to the (then) Minister of Youth Affairs, expressing concern at this development, where about 30 workshops were planned, and with 1200 professionals to be “trained”, presumably by Taylor. Chief Executive Dr. Jocelyn Quinnell dismissed  our concerns as “a negatively biased approach”.

Yet we were not alone here. On 17^th July 1991 the NZ Herald  reported that the State Services Commission had accused the Ministry of Youth Affairs of “lacking in credibility and accountability” etc. Two days later  came a damning Herald leader, “A Case for Infanticide” :-

            “….neither the Minister (of Youth Affairs, Roger McClay) nor his bureaucracy, has  so far produced convincing evidence that it even has a legitimate role…Mr. McClay should confront the reality of the situation and administer euthanasia to his sole Ministy.”

Four days later the Herald went even further, reporting high spending by Ministry personnel on meals, travel etc.

Molding the “expert” image

Despite such criticism the Ministry remained, as did Taylor, with the costly exercise proceeding all that year of 1991. Also highly supportive news media reports of “soaring” youth suicide figures, and much emphasis on  his supposed status as a youth suicide “expert”. Earlier in the year a highly pretentious story  was headed “Workshops to curb teen suicide rise”.(6) Also a Radio NZ Maggie Barry interview with Taylor about suicide being “on the rise”, “latest suicide boom” etc. and his  implausible theories about likely causes : the nuclear issue, a sense of fatalism from the Gulf War etc. (7)

In another Radio NZ item Geoff Robinson effusively described Taylor as “a national authority”…  “a recognized authority”(8) etc. There was even a five part Radio NZ October series on youth suicide, where Diane Stogre-Power described Taylor as “The country’s foremost authority…probably NZ’s expert on youth suicide” etc.!

Homosexual politics finally revealed

By 1992 Taylor was being lauded in a January homosexual publication Hero 2, where he was described as “a very out gay man, and he’s done a lot for young gay men in NZ in terms of his work in youth suicide prevention.” Also, in an interview there, homosexual lawyer (and now Labour M.P.) Charles Chauvel expanded on this : on how significant and valuable Taylor’s “research” had been to the homosexual political cause.

Chauvel also lobbied there on behalf of the emerging young homosexual activist group Auckland Lesbian Gay Youth ALGY), now known as Rainbow Youth. In rationalising why they should be permitted Lottery Board funding to speak in schools, he offered this highly devious reasoning :-

            “We have a right for our groups to be funded….(and for them) to go around and try and prevent youth suicide among our young people, because at the moment statistics [i.e. only Taylor’s highly unscientific ones] show that young gays and lesbians are three times more likely to kill themselves than young heterosexuals.” etc.

So then it became more clear to me the far-fetched and shaky basis upon which the case had been  made  (a) for ALGY to initially go into schools, and (b) for their “right” to Lottery Board funds to do so.

No wonder they were greatly indebted to Barry Taylor in this matter. No wonder, also, there was such media manipulation to make an issue out of youth suicide in the first place, and then  to make him appear such an authority on it : so that they could get into schools on the  deceitful pretext of suicide prevention!

 The above Part I is based upon excerpts from Credonews 13, dated February 1992, newsletter of the (then) Credo Society,  and edited by me. Next time, Part II : the present situation.

References

1. Letter to editor, Auckland Star 23^rd May 1986
2.     “      “     “    NZ Herald 5^th March 1988
3. NZ Herald 1^st March 1988
4. Access Community Radio Auckland, 18^th June 1989
5. Radio NZ News 20^th February 1991
6. Auckland Star 28^th February 1991
7. Radio NZ News 14^th February 1991
8. 8^th October 1991=