Teenager commits suicide on webcam

[Lenticular_J]

Seeing some reactions to this I think it's sad how desensitized society has become to suicide (and death in general).

 

When was society sensitive to death? If anything, people are more sensitive. In the past, people would be ready to take his [cabbage].

[InkofDeath]

it might be because they can record a suicide video, rather than a note, and they might figure that after they say their goodbyes, they might as well leave the camera running. If it is for fame, though, it's a better alternative than shooting up a school/mall then killing themselves.

 

Except if you wanted to do that why would you open it up to the entire world, where you know you'll get criticized greatly? I'd much rather make a personal, family-only video at home, than one on a crappy webcam and webcast service.

 

 

 

Oh well though everyones different for their needs.

[trashyyy]

People keep saying he was bipolar, but I can't find anywhere it says/someone saying he was off medication. :?

[Nadril]

I still like how, every time one of these threads pop up, people still think that it is largely the person's fault (who commited suicide). They are ignoring the entire point of it being a mental illness, and how their "Cry for attention" is them crying for help.

[warren211]

If you saw a kid threatening to kill himself on live webcam and he had some pills in his hand, would you believe him to be serious?

 

So... if he wasn't being serious, and this was only a cry for help, you should just turn away and forget about it?

 

 

 

I'd help him anyway. The guy's clearly in trouble. Whether he's serious about killing himself is neither here nor there. It just adds to the gravity of the situation.

 

 

 

What was anyone to do? Whether they were sad losers or generally concerned people, the most they could do would be to call the police and tell them some kid over the internet looks like he's dead. Fat load of good that would do.

 

 

 

While I sympathize with the poor kid and his family, I think the ones to blame were the rotten pieces of [cabbage] who taunted him because they thought it was a joke, then when they saw him die probably went "ohhhhhhh [expletive]" and ran away from their computer like the cowardly failure they are, then when they had the guts to come back to the computer they sent it to their friends pretending it didn't phase them. Those are the kids at fault.

[stan18]

People keep saying he was bipolar, but I can't find anywhere it says/someone saying he was off medication. :?

 

 

 

Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder in which the sufferer goes goes between normal, and the two poles - manic and depressive. Likely, the kid was in his depressive state. When they are normal, they do not know when they will shift to a pole. When depressive hits, the sufferer is fully conscious of the change; usually they know it changes, but, like with depression, they may not even think it worth it to take medication. They usually feel that way about medication because, to quote my friend, "it makes [her] feel like a zombie". Could you imagine living your life like that? Its likely he had not taken medication during this episode.

 

 

 

its everybody's problem

 

 

 

Nope.

 

 

 

Yes it is. Severity of mental disorders and suicides, and even suicide alone, is socially constructed. Is it a coincidence that the attempted suicide rate is 1:4, female to male, while the completed suicide rate is 4:1, male to female? Everybody is in on this, just like any other social and community issue.

 

 

 

the mere fact that he broadcasted the event meant he wanted someone to try to stop him; his attempting suicide would give him the answer to whether or not anyone valued his life more than he did. the bodybuilding site was his community and he got his answer.

 

I think you should read my post again. If someone wants to kill themselves, they will succeed. The people who want help take a handful of aspirin and a sleeping pill. They won't die because they don't want to. They want help and that's their way of reaching out. And judging by what you said here, I think it's you who's the "smug smartass." This kid was already over the edge; there was nothing any of the users could have said to stop him.

 

 

 

Also, it's not "everyone's problem," especially not those who watched. There was really no way they could help. If they called 911, there was probably little to no viable information they could provide.

 

 

 

Your argument isn't consistent. What kind of suicide, then, is this? The issue you focus on, though, is more about responsibility than the suicide itself though. You think its nobody's fault, because whats the chance that someone trying to help would be able to help? You make it seem like no one could do anything.

 

 

 

But the police eventually got there, which means one person got through. What if more people had taken initiative and called, and/or they called earlier? Maybe, then, they would have gotten through earlier and faster. Its that mentality of "I'm just one person, i won't make a difference", that lack of a sense of significance and responsibility, that prevented his help. It was everybody's responsibility.

 

 

 

Heres Gandhi's paradox: Nothing we do as individuals matters, but it is essentially vital that we do it anyways.

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm so insensitive for pointing out that it was a cry for attention. :roll: Give me a break. You're just quoting people who had a comment about this topic, misinterpret everything they said, and then try to make big monsters out of them.

 

 

 

its everybody's problem

 

 

 

No, he made it everybody's problem.

 

 

 

Really? How did i misinterpret? Or, what if, maybe, just maybe, I interpreted certain people's reactions to suicide and depression as ignorance regarding the matters? Because maybe you (in general, not just you, though you can take it that way if you really want to be defensive), to put it bluntly, don't know what you're talking about. That, and you're convinced that you do.

 

 

 

I already explained how it was more than just a cry for attention. But feel free to ignore me and continue your ignorant, happy life.

 

 

 

And, No, it was everybody's problem, but they chose to ignore it. Once it stared them in the face, they (tried to) shift responsibility to everyone else. Like you are, saying its nobody's fault but his.

 

 

 

Link plox. \

 

 

 

I dont find it wrong or anything. If someones stupid enough to kill themselves then does it matter if they put it on the internet?

 

 

 

LOLno.

 

 

 

I suggest you really understand the issue before you jump to such rash labels as "stupid".

 

 

 

I wonder if all those people who are happy to sit here and call the boy stupid for committing suicide even bothered to read the bit where it said he was suffering from bipolar disorder?

 

 

 

The people who should be called stupid are the idiots on the other end of the webcam egging him on. It's another example of what can happen when certain people use the anonymity of the Internet for their own twisted personal gain. If this had happened outside of the Internet, they'd have been arrested and charged for a hefty sentence.

 

 

 

If you saw a kid threatening to kill himself on live webcam and he had some pills in his hand, would you believe him to be serious?

 

 

 

There are better ways to get attention and help than the internet and you know it. Kid's fault imo. Should know better than to ask for help from people he doesnt know personally and irl.

 

 

 

First of all, yes, i would believe him, and i would call 911.

 

 

 

Second, it was for more than just attention, it was a cry for help. I hope you understand that first before you draw conclusions.

 

 

 

Be kind. A soul has departed from our company.

 

 

 

People do this for attention.

 

 

 

That's why he did it on a webcam. Very, very few people commit suicide by going out into the woods and shooting themselves or hanging themselves by a tree branch. Aye, his bipolar played a hand. But so did his thirst for attention. He may have killed himself either way, but why he used this medium was purely a ploy for attention.

 

 

 

Congratu-[bleep]-lations, media, you just compounded the problem.

 

 

 

Again, its a cry for help (not just attention). Where does this "thirst for attention" come from? Its scary to see how you're so quick to put blame on him, and even take away the gravity of his depression.

 

 

 

If you saw a kid threatening to kill himself on live webcam and he had some pills in his hand, would you believe him to be serious?

 

So... if he wasn't being serious, and this was only a cry for help, you should just turn away and forget about it?

 

 

 

I'd help him anyway. The guy's clearly in trouble. Whether he's serious about killing himself is neither here nor there. It just adds to the gravity of the situation.

 

 

 

What was anyone to do? Whether they were sad losers or generally concerned people, the most they could do would be to call the police and tell them some kid over the internet looks like he's dead. Fat load of good that would do.

 

 

 

Once again, better than nothing, huh?

[MirageOfDeath]

Seeing some reactions to this I think it's sad how desensitized society has become to suicide (and death in general).

 

When was society sensitive to death? If anything, people are more sensitive. In the past, people would be ready to take his [cabbage].

 

Heh you have a point...

 

 

 

Seeing some reactions to this I think it's sad how insensitive society is to suicide (and death in general).

 

Better?

[Furah]

I have mixe feelings on this, my curiosity wants me to see what he did and how long it took before he died, but I really feel sad that he ended his life, and especially the way some people actually sat there and watched it

 

 

 

:cry:

[Cybellin]

I have mixe feelings on this, my curiosity wants me to see what he did and how long it took before he died, but I really feel sad that he ended his life, and especially the way some people actually sat there and watched it

 

 

 

:cry:

 

 

 

Agree 100%.

 

 

 

Curious about how something like that would look, but at the other hand, I find it pathetic that people "enjoy" watching someone die

[dsavi]

I still like how, every time one of these threads pop up, people still think that it is largely the person's fault (who commited suicide). They are ignoring the entire point of it being a mental illness, and how their "Cry for attention" is them crying for help.

 

I agree, except I don't like it.

[warren211]

 

But the police eventually got there, which means one person got through. What if more people had taken initiative and called, and/or they called earlier? Maybe, then, they would have gotten through earlier and faster. Its that mentality of "I'm just one person, i won't make a difference", that lack of a sense of significance and responsibility, that prevented his help. It was everybody's responsibility.

 

 

 

Heres Gandhi's paradox: Nothing we do as individuals matters, but it is essentially vital that we do it anyways.

 

 

 

While I'm not sure just how many people watched the webcam video, I highly doubt everyone calling 911 would help much unless they lived in the same area as the suicide victim. What if you live in the same country but hundreds of miles away? Fat load of good the police would do there when you called em. Unless they started a full on investigation to track where this boy was then notify his local police to finish the case, which is a bit too much effort for a police force who lives miles and miles away from a victim over the internet because they have their own local problems to deal with. If it gives you peace of mind, then go ahead and call the police. It won't do much for the boy but it'll keep you at ease that you didn't sit there doing nothing. But once again, it doesn't do much good for the boy that some concerned people across the nation called the cops for their own peace of mind when he's already taken the pills.

 

 

 

If six hundred thousand people were watching and all called the cops, then a difference might have been made. But I really doubt 6 hundred thousand people were watching it. Hell, I really doubt even a thousand people were watching. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. And chances are unless the callers lived in the same area as the victim, a 911 call would do little to help the kid.

[evil_mumm_ra]

they knew approximately where he lived, and what school he went to and all that, that's how they knew what police to call, and how they located him. he was at the school dorms i believe.

 

 

 

the internet is an amazing thing when you tell someone the smallest bit of information, they can possibly find you. works good and bad.

[Ginger_Warrior]

As far as the whole police thing is concerned, fair enough, although mumm_ra's told us they could have phoned the police with details, let's presume there were none.

 

 

 

Why didn't this site have moderators who could be alerted to trace his IP address? I know they can be masked but I highly doubt someone on the verge of suicide making a final appeal for help would seriously worry about being traced. If there were moderators capable of actually doing their job on this site, making sure people are safe and responsible on the Internet, the police could have been given enough information to find this person and this thread might not even be here.

 

 

 

The site can't shrug this off. It's plainly irresponsible that someone is allowed to film themselves committing suicide and there's nothing anyone watching can do about it to alert the authorities. It's like when YouTube complain about the lack of control over content on their website whenever some mass murderer posts a video before shooting 15 people dead in a school somewhere. If there were specially trained people on the Internet with the necessary powers, these things wouldn't happen as much.

[evil_mumm_ra]

As far as the whole police thing is concerned, fair enough, although mumm_ra's told us they could have phoned the police with details, let's presume there were none.

 

 

 

Why didn't this site have moderators who could be alerted to trace his IP address? I know they can be masked but I highly doubt someone on the verge of suicide making a final appeal for help would seriously worry about being traced. If there were moderators capable of actually doing their job on this site, making sure people are safe and responsible on the Internet, the police could have been given enough information to find this person and this thread might not even be here.

 

 

 

The site can't shrug this off. It's plainly irresponsible that someone is allowed to film themselves committing suicide and there's nothing anyone watching can do about it to alert the authorities. It's like when YouTube complain about the lack of control over content on their website whenever some mass murderer posts a video before shooting 15 people dead in a school somewhere. If there were specially trained people on the Internet with the necessary powers, these things wouldn't happen as much.

 

 

 

the moderators didn't think he was serious. he said he was gonna commit suicide quite often from what i read on the threads. one person said he did it seemingly once a month. so it was a boy who cried wolf kind of thing. moderators were contacted, they blew it off cause of the boy who cried wolf. the watchers on the webcam didn't think he was gonna do it, or die from it, so they didn't call police till it was too late. there are plenty of valid reasons for it, but plenty of reasons saying it never should have happened. depends how you look at it.

[raven_gaurd0]

The kid was messed up, but I hardly blame anybody for this. Tell me if you can look at somebody on the street and tell if they're bipolar, or mentally diseased in general ([developmentally delayed]ation and other severe defects that affect physical appearance excluded), then you can start blaming. Those people thought he was just a kid prying for attention, but it caught their fancy and thought it would be entertaining to watch how it ended.

 

 

 

I don't think anybody here wanted anybody to die, at least not sincerely.

[Jimmyw3000]

If you saw a kid threatening to kill himself on live webcam and he had some pills in his hand, would you believe him to be serious?

 

So... if he wasn't being serious, and this was only a cry for help, you should just turn away and forget about it?

 

 

 

I'd help him anyway. The guy's clearly in trouble. Whether he's serious about killing himself is neither here nor there. It just adds to the gravity of the situation.

 

Whether or not he was serious about killing himself is relevant. Having been around the internet this long, we both know the amount of hoaxes and lies that pop up. It's human nature to try and not appear gullible and due to this, the viewers of this may have feel inclined that this was a hoax and a simple attempt at attention seeking for views on a vid, e-fame etc. and therefore, not helping him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are better ways to get attention and help than the internet and you know it.

 

A) He was bipolar. During an episode your mind doesn't exactly think straight and defeatist attitudes towards the world around you are a common symptom of that. I'd also be interested to know if the pills he was taking to control his bipolar condition would have had any impact on his mentality at the time;

 

B) Maybe the reason he was on the Internet is because he felt the "real world" was completely closed to him, ergo, there was no other place to appeal for help?

 

 

 

This story runs much deeper than "a looney kid kills himself on the 'Net".

 

When you're not having en episode, you can easily make friends, seek help from doctors etc. and besides, if you are having and 'episode', you keep your consciousness and therefore could have phoned for help, asked a parent and so forth.

 

Like i said in my first post, his parents are to blame too, as they should have known not to leave him on his own with easy methods to kill himself. They're not soley to blame, as seeking help from other users of the internet isnt the best method, except in the glass eating incident, but there exists better communities than one that would encourage him to kill himself.

[cadburys_egg]

I havent trawled through this thread to see if this has been mentioned yet, but I will say now. This has happened before. Suicide on the internet through webcam, just not a teenager. Why can one little detail like that make such a huge uproar? "What? Someones commited suicide on the internet? Ok, it happens .. A TEENAGER? WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE"

 

Though the last case I can think of was pretty much provoked by /b/. Well, actually, I probably didnt help being in that very chatroom. It nearly sparked up "not enough puma" or something meme, but it was too niche. There was also that crazed Bjork fan who videoed his own suicide to end his series of Bjork videos. And the only other suicides I can think of all belong in the Darwin awards.

[Ginger_Warrior]

As far as the whole police thing is concerned, fair enough, although mumm_ra's told us they could have phoned the police with details, let's presume there were none.

 

 

 

Why didn't this site have moderators who could be alerted to trace his IP address? I know they can be masked but I highly doubt someone on the verge of suicide making a final appeal for help would seriously worry about being traced. If there were moderators capable of actually doing their job on this site, making sure people are safe and responsible on the Internet, the police could have been given enough information to find this person and this thread might not even be here.

 

 

 

The site can't shrug this off. It's plainly irresponsible that someone is allowed to film themselves committing suicide and there's nothing anyone watching can do about it to alert the authorities. It's like when YouTube complain about the lack of control over content on their website whenever some mass murderer posts a video before shooting 15 people dead in a school somewhere. If there were specially trained people on the Internet with the necessary powers, these things wouldn't happen as much.

 

 

 

the moderators didn't think he was serious. he said he was gonna commit suicide quite often from what i read on the threads. one person said he did it seemingly once a month. so it was a boy who cried wolf kind of thing. moderators were contacted, they blew it off cause of the boy who cried wolf. the watchers on the webcam didn't think he was gonna do it, or die from it, so they didn't call police till it was too late. there are plenty of valid reasons for it, but plenty of reasons saying it never should have happened. depends how you look at it.

 

Then surely the solution is this: ban that sort of content from the site. Don't give me some crap about how that's too authoritarian. I don't know any organisation that would honestly want its territory used to advertise a suicide, joking or otherwise.

 

 

 

It really doesn't matter what way you look at this. Somebody committed suicide, advertised he was going to do so, and did not receive the help he needed. The whole "boy who cried wolf" thing is total ignorance towards the whole issue of suicide. It is not uncommon for people only considering suicide to send out those kind of flares.

 

 

 

There is quite clearly a systemic failure on the part of that website to protect its users, as well as a lack of general knowledge on mental health in the public. As far as the mods are concerned, if that's the quality of their personal judgement, they should be shown the door.

 

 

 

Whether or not he was serious about killing himself is relevant. Having been around the internet this long, we both know the amount of hoaxes and lies that pop up. It's human nature to try and not appear gullible and due to this, the viewers of this may have feel inclined that this was a hoax and a simple attempt at attention seeking for views on a vid, e-fame etc. and therefore, not helping him.

 

How is that relevant at all?

 

 

 

So if someone only pretends to commit suicide, every cries out "Do it for teh lulz!"? Surely the common sense thing to do is check and if it turns out to be a hoax, roast the guy later for being such a [bleep].

 

 

 

For the matter, despite using the Internet daily for the best part of five years, I've never come across someone who acts a suicide for e-reputation. Jesus, if someone did that in the real world, they'd be outcasted from normal society so fast they wouldn't have time to spell "suicide" in their head.

 

 

 

When you're not having en episode, you can easily make friends, seek help from doctors etc. and besides, if you are having and 'episode', you keep your consciousness and therefore could have phoned for help, asked a parent and so forth.

 

If you have no knowledge of mental health, don't post. That's all I'm saying there.

 

 

 

Like i said in my first post, his parents are to blame too, as they should have known not to leave him on his own with easy methods to kill himself.

 

What should they do? Gag him while they go out to work?

 

 

 

I can't believe so many people here try to make excuses over why this boy didn't get help. It boils down to very basic human compassion, that was thrown out the window because people wanted to see a freak show to while away their evening. It's appalling.

[evil_mumm_ra]

Then surely the solution is this: ban that sort of content from the site. Don't give me some crap about how that's too authoritarian. I don't know any organisation that would honestly want its territory used to advertise a suicide, joking or otherwise.

 

 

 

well let's see, it happened in basically their version of off topic. there is already one other post here on our off topic about someone's friend wanting to commit suicide. what if someone here actually posted that they wanted to commit suicide? what if they had posted numerous times about it but never went through about it? i can imagine that the same thing might happen, although our mods are quite good i'd bet. the possibility is still there. they can't really lock the thread, if they did, it might just cause the person to be like "omg, they locked my thread, they don't care *kills him/herself*" it would be best to leave it open no matter what imo, i do agree that the mods are partially at fault, but you can't really just ban the whole topic about it, cause that might just spiral the person into actually doing it thinking no one cares. granted yes, if users were egging him on and stuff, they should be banned regardless, but the entire topic itself shouldn't be.

[Orpheus]

I havent trawled through this thread to see if this has been mentioned yet, but I will say now. This has happened before. Suicide on the internet through webcam, just not a teenager. Why can one little detail like that make such a huge uproar? "What? Someones commited suicide on the internet? Ok, it happens .. A TEENAGER? WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE"

 

Though the last case I can think of was pretty much provoked by /b/. Well, actually, I probably didnt help being in that very chatroom. It nearly sparked up "not enough puma" or something meme, but it was too niche. There was also that crazed Bjork fan who videoed his own suicide to end his series of Bjork videos. And the only other suicides I can think of all belong in the Darwin awards.

 

 

 

Only other case I can think of involving /b/ was some girl who took her life because of the LUE board on GameFAQS and people just kept spamming her facebook, and just kept egging her on.

[folmer_veeman]

I think it's really astonishing how bad those trolls are. I mean, even if a person isn't serious about wanting to kill him/herself you still shouldn't taunt him/her :thumbdown:

 

 

 

PS. what's /b/?

[Orpheus]

I think it's really astonishing how bad those trolls are. I mean, even if a person isn't serious about wanting to kill him/herself you still shouldn't taunt him/her :thumbdown:

 

 

 

PS. what's /b/?

 

 

 

The cesspit of the internet, where idiots and acne-ridden teenagers post crap that they think is still funny, when it was funny maybe the first time it came out, then died off painfully. I'm not gonna give a link.

[Jimmyw3000]

Whether or not he was serious about killing himself is relevant. Having been around the internet this long, we both know the amount of hoaxes and lies that pop up. It's human nature to try and not appear gullible and due to this, the viewers of this may have feel inclined that this was a hoax and a simple attempt at attention seeking for views on a vid, e-fame etc. and therefore, not helping him.

 

How is that relevant at all?

 

Explains why people did not try to help him. They didnt want to appear foolish.

 

 

 

 

 

So if someone only pretends to commit suicide, every cries out "Do it for teh lulz!"? Surely the common sense thing to do is check and if it turns out to be a hoax, roast the guy later for being such a [bleep].

 

 

 

For the matter, despite using the Internet daily for the best part of five years, I've never come across someone who acts a suicide for e-reputation. Jesus, if someone did that in the real world, they'd be outcasted from normal society so fast they wouldn't have time to spell "suicide" in their head.

 

How are they supposed to check? If I see a person on the internet threatening to kill themselves, i'd walk away and not check or say it's bs and then walk away and do nothing. Honestly, the chances of a person actually committing suicide over webcam on the internet is very rare and for that reason, most people would say it's complete crap.

 

 

 

Like i said in my first post, his parents are to blame too, as they should have known not to leave him on his own with easy methods to kill himself.

What should they do? Gag him while they go out to work?

 

Not leave him alone by himself...? If he had a guardian with him, I'm certain his chances of commiting suicide would have been reduced, as the guardian would have stopped him from overdosing or if it was too late, take him to the hospital for treatment.

 

 

 

I can't believe so many people here try to make excuses over why this boy didn't get help. It boils down to very basic human compassion, that was thrown out the window because people wanted to see a freak show to while away their evening. It's appalling.

 

How would the viewers have known he was bipolar? How would they have known he was serious? It boils down to the fact that people using the internet are less inclined to belive a person will do something [developmentally delayed]ed and therefore less inclined to seek aid for the person.

[Sam]

What a shame :roll:

 

 

 

I wonder what his motivation was.

[purfishx]

What a shame :roll:

 

 

 

I wonder what his motivation was.

 

 

 

*waits for flames*