Let this be a lesson to everyone

[Rÿcher]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/21/webcam.suicide/?iref=mpstoryview
15,000 views and not one of them called to report this.

If you see someone on the internet threatening to commit suicide, believe it's a real, credible threat and that they're not just joking around looking for attention.

What can you do?

Contact the moderator of the site. They'll have the user's IP address. From there, they'll be able to determine where they live. The mods and admins will also probably also know the real name of the person in question.

Show them the information you've discovered. Let them know how you think that person is in danger. If the mods or admins have any conscience whatsoever, they'll take action and call the police.

If it turns out not to be credible, all you'll have done is inconvenienced the user a little bit but you'd have let that user know there are people out there who care. No harm, no foul.

 

[Captain X]

Ever hear of "angst"? That's where some emo kid with some Brady Bunch problem goes on and on about how they're going to kill themselves to try to get some kind of response from the other people on the board. How are a bunch of people going to know any different, particularly when the kid had already said he was going to do it before and didn't.

 

[Rÿcher]

okay, use your best judgment.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/21/webcam.suicide/?iref=mpstoryview
15,000 views and not one of them called to report this.

If you see someone on the internet threatening to commit suicide, believe it's a real, credible threat and that they're not just joking around looking for attention.

What can you do?

Contact the moderator of the site. They'll have the user's IP address. From there, they'll be able to determine where they live. The mods and admins will also probably also know the real name of the person in question.

Show them the information you've discovered. Let them know how you think that person is in danger. If the mods or admins have any conscience whatsoever, they'll take action and call the police.

If it turns out not to be credible, all you'll have done is inconvenienced the user a little bit but you'd have let that user know there are people out there who care. No harm, no foul.

What bothered me was that it took 1 hour for the PD to respond. Pathetic.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

If you see someone on the internet threatening to commit suicide, believe it's a real, credible threat and that they're not just joking around looking for attention.

That's the problem though. The guy had threatened to do it several times already, to the point where very few people took him seriously. Also, he didn't take any of the pills on camera, so they only had his word to go on, which was flimsy at best. It was only after he had not been moving for hours that people could start catching on that this might be the real thing.

It's sort of like when someone threatens to leave a forum by publicly expressing how unhappy they are with everyone, and then nine times out of ten they end up coming back soon after or just never leaving at all. It's kind of hard to take seriously when it's obviously just a ploy for attention or a thinly veiled attempt at insulting someone while garnering sympathy at the same time. Yes, they may have legitimate grievances and may genuinely be leaving, or they may just be manipulating people, which frequently turns out to be the case.

So, while I don't think egging him on or mocking him was the right thing to do, I can't hold those internet posters in too high a contempt because unfortunately there are a lot of jackasses who fake this kind of thing just to mess with people.

 

[JuanBolio]

If a person wants to kill themselves, I believe that is and should be their decision. It is not my place to interfere.

 

[Hermiod]

If a person wants to kill themselves, I believe that is and should be their decision. It is not my place to interfere.

Absolutely agreed. Perhaps they shouldn't do it on the Internet, but a person's life is their own to live as they choose or to end as they choose.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I agree in principle; however, most people who commit suicide are either mentally ill or emotionally disturbed. They wouldn't kill themselves if they were in their right mind. If they have a terminal illness, that's a different story....

 

[Velocity]

If someone were to talk to them, they might change their mind. Isn't it worth a chance to change their mind, just by being a compassionate person? Something that requires so little from a person, but saving a life is such a big thing. Turning our back on someone is cold and lazy. Telling ourselves that we are respecting his privacy is not good enough when a life is on the line. Once you are dead there is no chance to change your mind. If one person slows down the progression to suicide it might make all the difference between life or death.

 

[trekkiedane]

If a person wants to kill themselves, I believe that is and should be their decision. It is not my place to interfere.

True, and I agree. But if someone made a big spectacle about it on-line the attempt does seem more like 'a cry for help' than an actual longing to be no more.

If someone were to talk to them, they might change their mind. Isn't it worth a chance to change their mind, just by being a compassionate person? Something that requires so little from a person, but saving a life is such a big thing. Turning our back on someone is cold and lazy. Telling ourselves that we are respecting his privacy is not good enough when a life is on the line. Once you are dead there is no chance to change your mind. If one person slows down the progression to suicide it might make all the difference between life or death.

But how would we know when to interfere? -this (possibly, probably…) wasn't the first time the kid did something like this; Should we call the police every time anyone on-line threatens to kill themselves or someone else?

 

[Captain X]

If anyone should have noticed anything, it should have been the kid's family. Unless you're well established at a place like this or a smaller board, people aren't going to know the difference between a genuine cry for help and someone trying to yank their chain. Trying to blame these people for taking it to be the latter is bullshit, and anyone who does it needs to get the fuck off of their high horse.

 

[trekkiedane]

^That's what I was thinking; What's wrong with this dad, how come he wasn't involved in his son's -what appears to be a history of- depression?

He's "appalled" that strangers didn't take his son serious on-line yet apparently wasn't even in the loop regarding his son's life himself…

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

While I agree that the parents need to be MUCH more involved...I will say that I am appalled at the utter lack of compassion displayed by those who were watching.

(Reminds me of the lyrics to that Tool song "Vicarious": really seems like that same mentality... http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/10kdayslyrics.php)

I have actually had to talk someone down from suicide online once, and I can tell you that one person DOES make a difference. To just sit by idly and do nothing--that is unacceptable.

 

[JuanBolio]

I will say that he was rather uncreative. Someone should've linked him to this page:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=manly_suicide