Learning that a friend or loved one has committed suicide is always very traumatic. Last week, the students of the school la Camaradière lived through this struggle. 

-For the good of this article and for the respect of his family members, we won’t be naming any people and will use the pseudonym: Johnny.

SUNDAY 

Most students learned the news through social media, mostly on Instagram from a post his friend made. Some teachers also learned the news Sunday, but most of them on the second day at school.

MONDAY

On Monday, some people wore black for the event. The teachers who didn’t know what happened yet learned it in the morning at “La Salle Guy Bédard”. The school created a memorial beside a wall of windows where people wrote letters and others would leave flowers. Some students were talking about the news, “This is so sad”,  “He didn’t deserve this”  “I hope he feels better now”, said some of them.

The school opened the local “Le Phare” for people who felt like they needed help to go while others would go to their regular classes. Many workers from ” le Centre de services scolaires de la Capitale” came to the school to help students or even some teachers that were shocked by the event. Some of them were unable to teach due to the situation.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was similar to Monday, and the rest of the week. People kept dropping flowers and letters every day, and the local “Le Phare” was still open for the people closest to him.

WEDNESDAY

An art teacher left a big canvas near the memorial. Many students and teachers wrote on it with colored pencils and some people drew flowers and small drawings on it.

THURSDAY 

On Thursday, at the beginning of the 2nd period, we learned that the memorial would be taken down on Friday during the last period. Some people were kind of upset about it because they felt like it was too soon to take it off, but on the other hand, some people agreed with the decision because, in their opinion, people need to make their grief as soon as possible.

FRIDAY

The music class organized a concert during the 2nd break in “La Salle Guy Bédard” for the memory of Johnny. “This was a beautiful way to end this week,” said a teacher happily. After the break, the directors and 6 of Johnny’s closest friends took down the memorial, and they put the letters and the flowers in some boxes that were gifted to his parents later on. They also washed his locker, which was filled with words left by some students.