MFS Reacts to Local Teen Suicides

Many teens around the Burlington City area have expressed sorrow about two Burlington Township High School students, Mike Steve, 18, and Adnan “Ado” Halkic, 15, who recently committed suicide.

“When I heard about the first kid, Ado, I was pretty surprised,” said MFS junior Jess Richards.  “As far as I knew, he was a cute kid, popular, a varsity football player as a freshman.  A lot of my friends were upset since they go to the same school, and it was hard to see them that way … I was really heartbroken when just days later, Mike, a senior, took his own life on Monday night. There was hardly any time to get past Ado, and then another classmate passed … no one had any idea that neither Mike or Ado had issues and everyone was caught off guard upon hearing of their deaths, that bothered me. All I could think about is whether or not I knew anyone who could be struggling with the same things.”

Richards attended Halkic’s memorial service, posted a picture on Instagram, and stood up in Meeting for Worship to raise awareness for Ado, Mike, and the issue of suicide in general.

Susan Batastini, Educational/Psychological Coordinator at MFS, noted important lessons to be taken from the situation.

“It’s a great tragedy of course to see any teen or young person take their life. I think what it does is affects us all … People are struggling with a lot of things. I think we need as students and staff to be aware … and be sensitive to the whole thing. We always encourage students to come to me if they’re worried about something, or someone else. It’s important to reach out to a person if they’re struggling. Saying, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ is really important … to support and be sensitive to what’s going on with our teens can not be stressed enough.”

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