The Second Silence: For Autumn
She was ten years old. She played piano. She should still be here.
Autumn Bushman was ten years old when she died by suicide. Ten.
I can’t stop thinking about her. She played the piano. Her sweet smile. Her kind eyes. She loved to chat and was kind to others.
And now her parents are sharing her story so the world will understand that she didn’t want to die. She just didn’t know how to live in a world where cruelty had become normal. And they’re brave to tell it.
Youth suicide under the age of twelve is something people don’t want to talk about. They say it’s too rare. Too sad. Too uncomfortable. They pull out statistics like a shield.
But Autumn wasn’t a statistic. She was a little girl. And she was suffering.
I’m grateful to The Washington Post for telling her story with tenderness and respect. It’s hard to read but we need stories like this. You can read it here.
The truth is bullying is getting worse. Cruelty is being rewarded. And children are watching. They see adults model violence, contempt, mockery. They see leaders of the United States of America who lie and laugh about it. They see systems that do nothing.
“Autumn didn’t want to die,” her mother, Lisa Bushman, said.
“She just didn’t want to feel the way she felt anymore.”
— The Washington Post, April 5, 2025
Let’s be clear: bullying prevention is not optional. Suicide risk education is not optional. Trauma-informed education is not optional. And teaching hope is not optional.
There are ways to intervene. Real, proven ways. I can think of three off the top of my head—strategies backed by evidence, compassion, and common sense. They’re available right now, to anyone in power who wants to act and not just lament.
Hope MASS: A research-backed model that teaches kids how to build meaning, find connection, develop survival skills, and cultivate spirituality. It doesn’t just respond to crisis, it helps prevent it.
Roots of Empathy: A program founded in Canada by Mary Gordon, where babies visit classrooms and children learn to recognize and name emotions. It reduces aggression, increases emotional literacy, and helps children grow into more compassionate peers. Make this more widely available in the US.
Empathy education, like in Denmark: Since 1993, Danish schools have included mandatory empathy classes in their national curriculum. One hour every week to slow down, listen, and understand each other’s feelings. It’s part of how they raise emotionally intelligent citizens.
We could do all of this. Tomorrow, if we wanted to.
What We Should Be Demanding from Our Legislators
Mandate suicide prevention and bullying education in all K–12 schools, starting in early childhood
Fund comprehensive teacher training in trauma-informed care, empathy development, and hope theory
Develop national screening guidelines for early suicide risk, adapted for developmental stages
Replace zero-tolerance discipline policies with whole-family treatment models that address root causes and provide appropriate services to children and their caregivers
Support in-school and community-based mental health partnerships that focus on healing and prevention, not punishment
Confront the cultural context: we are living in a society where cruelty is rewarded, where bullies are in power, and where inhumane behavior is normalized. This political reality shapes our schools too.
This Is What the Second Silence Looks Like
The first silence is what happens when a child suffers alone.
The second is what happens when the adults around them refuse to change.
When we say it’s too rare, too sad, too complex.
When we don’t reform the systems.
When we don’t hold power accountable.
When we don’t act.
Let Autumn’s life matter, not just in our hearts, but in our policies.
Not just in memory, but in practice.
Not just in grief, but in prevention.
Let’s not be silent about Autumn’s death.
Let’s keep it at the front of our hearts, our policy agendas, and our collective conscience.
Let’s stop letting cruelty lead. Let’s vote out leaders who glorify cruelty, bullying, and terror.
Let’s teach our children what empathy really looks like.
Because Autumn should be here.
Other children still can be.
But only if we choose to see them.
And only if we refuse to look away.
If You or a Child You Know Is in Crisis
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth): 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): 1-800-950-NAMI or nami.org/help
The Hope Institute: hopeinstitute.org – training and resources for building hope