Rocking to prevent teen suicide

Published in the Asbury Park Press 01/30/05
By JAMES A. QUIRK
FREEHOLD BUREAU

By the end of Dawne Allynne's emotional solo acoustic set last night, tears were flowing down Joan Napoliello's face. It has been three months since her son, Nicholas, 15, took his own life, and Allynne dedicated her final song to him and his mother's strength.

Napoliello was but one supporter in a sold-out crowd of hundreds who came out to the Stone Pony for the Rock For Life Concert, an event organized by the New Jersey chapter of Yellow Ribbon International, a group that works to prevent suicide among teens.

"I'm just so thankful people came out," said Napoliello, of Millstone, after Dawne's performance. "They're so supportive. And it's nice to see young kids here — I hope they get the message."

Jody Joseph and Matt O'Ree, both local musicians and music instructors, thought up the concert as a way to spread the importance of suicide-prevention education among teenagers. They brainstormed the idea after one of Joseph's students, Stephanie Fritz, 15, took her own life.

Joseph sang at Fritz's funeral, and afterward she spoke to the girl's father, Scott Fritz, and asked if he would support the idea of putting on a benefit and awareness concert to suicide prevention. Fritz, now the head of the state chapter of Yellow Ribbon International, agreed.

Yellow Ribbon International was founded in 1994. The group works to distribute Yellow Ribbon Cards, which can be given by a teenager to an adult as a direct cry for help, as well as educate students and parents on ways they can help their children and peers cope with the feelings that can sometimes preclude suicide.

"We need to get this program into the schools," Fritz said. "We've spoken to superintendents in all 52 school (districts), and they've been slow to react."

Don Quigley, who worked with Fritz to organize the concert, also lost his son, Sean, 14, to suicide. The Rock For Life concert, he said, is an important first step of breaking through the taboo that surrounds discussing suicide openly and frankly.

"If we were equipped with the education and the look-out signs, I'm sure Sean would be with us today," Quigley said.

Roughly 800 tickets, at $15 a piece, were sold — Quigley said they probably could have sold twice as many tickets if they had a larger venue. The evening featured performances by dozens of local musicians, including many of Joseph and O'Ree's young students. Food and beverages were served, and many items were auctioned off, including an Ovation acoustic guitar signed by Jon Bon Jovi and a Gibson Firebird signed by Kid Rock guitarist Kenny Olson.

"I'm glad to be part of this wonderful event that I think will change so many lives," Joseph said.