Amy and Greg Hoyt want their son to be acknowleged in his school's yearbook, but the district has said no, citing 'suicide contagion.'Carson Hoyt's parents have been told their son, who died three years ago, won't be included in the 2024 yearbook at Hampton High School. From kindergarten until the end of Grade 9, Carson Hoyt was part of the future class of 2024 at Hampton High School.
Amy has tried to stay involved with the class of '24. In January, she emailed the school principal and offered to help with graduation activities. According to emails provided by the Hoyts, the school notified the district of the request, and the district decided against a memorial. Then it told her to stop contacting the school.
The Hoyts couldn't understand the district's position. After all, they've seen other memorials for students who died by suicide, including one several years ago at Hampton High School.Lexi Daken would have been part of the class of 2023 at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton but died by suicide in 2021. The 2023 Leo Hayes yearbook remembered her.
"I am strongly encouraging the Anglophone South School District and officials at Hampton High School to work with the Hoyt family to ensure their son, Carson, is included in the school yearbook," Hogan said in a statement."It is my hope that, with further discussions rooted firmly in empathy and compassion, a path forward for remembering Carson Hoyt at what would be his graduation ceremony will materialize.
The statement also said experts in the field "discourage schools from establishing permanent memorials because they can be risk-enhancers to vulnerable students. Suicide contagion is real and also complex." When reached by phone on Wednesday, Brock said it's "standard practice to try to avoid anything that may be perceived by vulnerable students as sensationalizing, romanticizing, or glorifying a person who died by suicide.
While it's a "small subset" of students who are vulnerable, Brock said it's important for schools to do everything they can to protect them. He said it's absolutely normal and understandable to want to do something to remember Carson, but it's important to understand there are certain types of memorials that have the potential to cause harm, including yearbook memorials.