Collinsville High School offers counseling after tragic death of student

COLLINSVILLE, OKLAHOMA (KTUL) — Collinsville Public Schools is mourning the loss of a 16-year-old student and another student injured in an accident Saturday evening.

It happened three days after the start of the school year.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, parents and driving instructors can prevent young drivers from being involved in fatal accidents by giving them as much time and experience behind the wheel as possible before they begin driving themselves.

“Teen drivers are at a higher risk for fatal crashes,” said Lieutenant Mark Southall of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. “The leading cause of fatal crashes involving teen drivers is distracted driving.”

According to Lieutenant Mark Southall of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, fatal traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among teen drivers ages 16 to 19, and 60% of these crashes are caused by inattentive drivers.

“It can come from cell phones, it can come from something as simple as the radio, and it can come from the passengers,” Southall said.

According to preliminary reports received from OHP between Memorial Day of this year and today, there have been at least seven fatal traffic crashes involving teen drivers.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, there were 17 fatal traffic crashes involving teen drivers during the same period in 2021.

The Collinsville School District announced in a statement this weekend that one of its high school students had died in a tragic accident. It said counselors would be available during this difficult time Monday morning to provide support to students and staff as they navigate this challenging situation.

We spoke to local mental health groups about what parents can do to help their children who may be experiencing a loss.

Faith Crittenden of Family & Children's Service says one way parents can help their teenagers is to think about how they would have felt if they had been in the same situation as children.

“And if they've lost a friend, what that was like for them or how they would imagine it would be. And usually the kids tell us whether we're on the right track or not,” Crittenden said.

“Help validate the feeling,” said Matthew Spencer, chief clinical officer at Grand Mental Health.

Spencer says that because grief affects everyone differently, one way parents can help their children cope with loss is to help them accept their child's feelings and help them understand that it's normal to be angry, hurt and sometimes not know how to feel.

“Help them not feel like they have to run away from that feeling,” Spencer said.

Spencer says it's also important to give your child the space they need to create a safe environment for recovery.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the 16-year-old who was killed. Money is being collected for funeral costs.SIGN UP FOR THE CHANNEL 8 NEWSLETTER