Smash Mouth helps smash suicide stigma in Barrington

About 6,000 members of the Barrington community assembled Saturday hoping to change the culture of the village when it comes to suicide awareness.

"Barrington is obviously great but in my high school, we've sometimes seen a lack of compassion for students," Barrington High School senior Tanya Mookerji said. "We want to make a fun, more comfortable environment."

Over the last two years, Barrington High School has seen four students take their lives, and Mookerji and her fellow students want to stop the pattern. They hope events like Saturday's Stop the Stigma will lead to a healthier environment and encourage discussion. Saturday's event started with a community walk from the Wool Street Grill and ended at the high school's football stadium.

Helping foster a more fun environment was the pop band Smash Mouth, the secret headliner for the event. Organizers wanted to keep Smash Mouth's performance a secret so the event would be community focused instead of stormed by fans of the band who would be jamming to band chart-topper from 1999, "All Star." The secret came out as the band took the stage for a 3 p.m. sound check.

Students laid blankets on the field's turf and took in the outdoor concert, as Smash Mouth and a host of others played. The event also featured a video presentation and a panel of mental health experts.

But not everyone was pleased with Smash Mouth's appearance. Christine Black lost her son, Danny, in June after he took his own life. "To me it's a waste of money," Black said.

Black was extremely happy about the Saturday's turnout, but said she would rather keep Smash Mouth at home and see the money spent to send teachers to workshops that would help them deal with students with depression and find ways to encourage talking about mental health issues.

Black passed out fliers on Saturday about a seminar on the stigmas of suicide that was hosted by ABC 7 anchor Kevin Roy and Dr. David C. Clark, assistant dean at the Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine's medical college. She stressed education is the key to prevention, saying that "somewhere along the line with teachers and coaches, something was missed."

Barrington High School spokesman Jeff Arnett said the money to pay Smash Mouth came from a Sept. 11 fundraiser headlined by The Academy Is -.

Two members from that band graduated from Barrington High School and they played for free, raising $25,000. That money, and money from the baby blue T-shirts sold for the event, helped pay for Smash Mouth and will also go toward counseling services, Arnett said.

HERE of Barrington, a 55-person task force unveiled earlier this month to address concerns with teenage mental health, and Saturday's event was one of their firsts. The group stands for "Help, Encouragement, Resources, Education" to promote positive mental health.

Sylvia Boeder, co-chair, says the high academic excellence and expectations at Barrington-area schools may put additional pressures on teenagers. She wants more discussion of mental-health issues pertaining to teenagers. "This is just the kickoff," Boeder said. "We are looking at a multiyear initiative."