An assembly to address suicide may not seem the happiest reason to bring people together. Still, says guidance counselor Erin Shurant, who coordinated the presentation, it was something that needed to be addressed.

"I think that in general teen depression is an issue," she said. "It's not something people really talk about."

Suicide prevention was the purpose of the Feb. 15 morning gathering, which featured a video, poems, interpretive dance, a monologue and a Power Point presentation dealing with myths, facts and statistics on teen suicide.

"It was well thought out and meaningful," said senior Stephanie Ryan. "I thought that it helped those in need."

Health teacher Amy Cox said she "liked that the students were involved," and business teacher Cathy Casalatta said that if "even one person was helped out, it was totally worth it."

Although teen suicide in particular may be due to "most likely a combination of factors," says Shurant, a major one is "people not feeling like they have anywhere to go" in order to deal with the problem.

She saw the assembly as positive, with lots of room for improvement. "It was a good foundation to build on."

After the presentations, a number of students visited their guidance counselors in order to discuss individual concerns related to what they saw and heard.

As far as other teen issues, Shurant says, the Auburn High School chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions is currently filming a skit about another prevalent teen concern, drinking and driving. She also notes that bullying, verbal harassment and gossip are other concerns that have been raised.

Shurant encourages all students to visit the Teen Resource Center in the guidance office: "Please use it! It offers pamphlets and information about a variety of teen problems. Many of your questions can be answered, and your counselor can help answer the rest."