On Wednesday morning, Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an incident at Harlem High School in which a student threatened to harm herself with scissors.
“We had a situation this morning involving a student expressing self-harm, which resulted in law enforcement being called to the school,” said the Columbia County School District in a public statement issued the same day. “At no time were other students in danger and classes operated as normal.”
According to a statement issued by the Sheriff’s Office, the 15-year-old student grabbed a pair of scissors from the school’s kitchen as members of the kitchen staff were cleaning up and said she wanted to harm herself. Staff ran to get assistance from school administration as the student was attempting to stab herself in her leg and stomach area.
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Administrators and staff confronted the student as she exited the kitchen and charged at several of them with the scissors held above her head, stabbing the air, according to information from the Sheriff’s Office. The student stabbed a table repeatedly before throwing the scissors at an administrator, after which she was detained until deputies and medical personnel arrived.
The student was taken to Augusta University Medical Center for evaluation. The Sheriff’s Office says that Juvenile Court has been notified so that, when the student is released, they can determine whether to detain her until a hearing or bring her to court at such time.
The occurrence is the latest amid several such cases involving students from Columbia County schools. On Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, 2021, police responded to incidents involving students from Grovetown Middle School and Columbia County Alternative School.
“We’ve got to figure out how to reach them,” said District 4 School Board member Lee Ann Meyer at district’s Dec. 15, 2021 meeting. “How to know who they are, how to help the parents understand what could be going through their children’s minds.”
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The matter was addressed during the Feb. 8 regular session of the Board of Education when Julie Miller, regional manager of the Georgia Family Connection Partnership nonprofit, spoke before the board during the public participation portion of the meeting.
“We have a growing crisis around children and teen mental health,” said Miller. “Our data is very clear on that.”
Citing stats of Columbia County students who have considered self-harm or suicide, Miller used her time before the board to inform the public about Resilient Teens, a partnership between Augusta University and Family Connections coordinated offer support and help develop resiliency skills for students with trauma and mental health issues.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
