One New Jersey couple, who lost their daughter to suicide, has championed legislation that is aimed at giving college kids someone to talk with when they are in distress.
Madison Holleran was one of New Jersey's best and brightest: an athlete-scholar, two-time all-state soccer player and member of the University of Pennsylvania track and field team.
On an otherwise ordinary January day in 2014, Madison leaped from the ninth floor of a parking garage in Center City, Philadelphia.
She was 19.
Last week, Gov. Chris Christie signed the suicide prevention bill that Jim and Stacy Holleran of Allendale have advocated for since their daughter died.
The Madison Holleran Suicide Prevention Act requires colleges in the Garden State to make a mental health professional available around the clock to counsel students in distress.
"Although we cannot erase the pain of losing a child to suicide, we can prevent the future loss of life by providing college students who are struggling right now with access to lifesaving support," said State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex), one of the measure's sponsors.
Gov. Christie signs suicide prevention bill
Sadly, Madison's death was far from the only suicide by a young person last year - or any other year.
Nearly three-quarters of the 233 youth suicides in New Jersey from 2010 to 2012 involved people between 19 and 24. A 2013 report by the state's Department of Children and Families declared suicide the third-leading cause of death for New Jersey residents between 10 and 24.
Skeptics say the bill is mere "feel-good" medicine. We beg to differ.
It's a solid step toward curbing an epidemic which seems to be worsening in an age of invasive social media and emphasis on achievement among our college population.
According ESPN magazine, Madison spent a lot of time on Instagram, comparing herself unfavorably with idealized and carefully edited versions of her peers that she pored over every day.
High school friends described her as a perfectionist; college friends noticed she had begun taking less pleasure in her beloved running routines.
Lawmakers consider bills aimed at preventing suicide
In its collective grief, the family created the Madison Holleran Foundation to end the silence and stigma around suicide, and to assure that phone numbers of hot lines are readily available to anyone in emotional turmoil.
Wisely, the non-profit targets high school seniors and college freshmen, who too often find themselves in difficult transition periods with no life raft in sight.
The foundation has also joined in "Out of the Darkness" walks, aptly named events sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to promote awareness and foster understanding. One of the walks will take place on Oct. 30 at Hamilton's Veterans Park.
We can't imagine the pain Madison must have suffered, or the torment her loved ones continue to endure. We can only marvel at the Hollerans' braveness, while thanking them for bringing the issue into the sunlight.
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