We are Scott and Janice Paton. Our beautiful son Tyler was a loving son who would help anyone. He grew up in a loving and caring home. He graduated high school with a 5.6 gpa and 1340 on the SAT. He played football in high school and played multiple positions on the field.

In college he was a sports journalism major. In his last year of college, with no warning, he took his life. Something changed in him in the last few months of his life. Unbeknownst to us, he became a different person behind closed doors.

If kids and young adults can hide their mental illness from their parents and friends, they’re surely not going to pick up the phone to call a hotline.

The Tyler J Paton foundation will work with leading researchers and parents who have been through this to come up with accountability partners. Friends who will look out for one another with a monthly or quarterly “check in”.

Janice and I will dedicate ourselves to traveling around the country to raise awareness and try to make sure this never happens to any other families. This is now our mission.

Our mission statement:

We will help identify at risk kids and young adults that are considering ending their lives by giving them instant access to more current and up to date methods . We will also revamp the vocabulary people use. Suicide is an uncomfortable, taboo word that no one uses in a conversation. We will incorporate words like attempt to end a life so people can have easier dialogues with their loved ones.

Our goal is to reach all 50 states.