Teenager commits suicide live online while 1,500 people watch

Good lord, i know people on another forum i visit that participated in the body building thread where he posted the suicide note and everything....Unfortunately a few of them were ones encouraging him to kill himself....

Its pretty sad, but apparently he had made more than one thread on that site, and actually broadcast himself trying to OD before...

Media has utterly removed all shock-value from anything at all. Something that would have shocked people 30 years ago, makes teens just giggle now. It's exciting and fun to them. Even gruesome, violent things.

I mentioned this in some Obama thread. He is trying to get young folks to do 1 to 2 hours of community service a week, to get some values back. Yet so many are against it. Because I guess we raise our kids so well, they don't need that (or it should be completely voluntary).

Unfortunately, the majority of parents do not nearly do enough to curb this sort of thing. They let their kids get on the Internet unsupervised. They don't care what they do when they don't see them, as long as they are out of their hair. And because of this, and movies and media, kids have a fraction of the respect kids had years ago.

Mind you, not all children are like this. Some parents still teach their kids values. But there are far too many that harbor no respect for anyone else, no reservations for what they say, and there is little that shocks them. We've allowed our children to become utterly numb to anything that they should in normal circumstances, make them upset, sad, hurt, afraid. Now, it's just an idle curiosity, something for their amusement.

wow... that's sad. most ppl who commit suicide really just want help. but in this case it's probably quite hard to get authorities involved. i mean it's not like you can call them and give them the IP address - they're most likely not prepared for that and it will take them many hours to get through the legal channels to find the real street address... let's just hope these kinds of cases stay at a minimum and will motivate more parents to talk to their teens because suicide thoughts dont just happen at once - and also check their online activity.

People are like that. Once when I was really really depressed and thinking about suicide all the time I went into a forum on another site and posted about it and the replies I got were incredibly cruel. People are cruel. I think maybe 5% of the responses showed any empathy, at least 70% were flippant, get over it remarks, and the other 25% of responses were like "your a loser, go die."

After that instead of just wanting to kill myself, I wanted to hunt down all of them and kill them and their families and their pets, and then myself. hah!

edit: Drug overdoses on youtube are just weak sauce, when I kill myself, I'm going to a crowded place and setting myself on fire with a can of gas and some matches.

[edit on 22-11-2008 by guyopitz]

ok what the hell?/

why are there pages of bickering and nonsense

a young life was lost and it could have been prevented

that young man could be in a hospital right now getting help

and people on this site are bickering back and forth about whether or not the people on that site were wrong that just watched and stood by

maybe this is a little extreme,

but right now the laws doing everything they can to make examples out of celebrity's with drug charges and drinking and driving etc, lets make a example out of all the morons who stand by like fools

lets charge everyone on that webcam with accessory to murder

lets put that all over the mainstream news, that these people were put on trial

let the story be about the people who are punished for allowing this to happen, then in the future, when someone decides they want to do this crap on the internet, or go shoot up a mall for fame

everyone will know, if you stand by and do nothing while seeing this take place, you will be punished for being a pathetic sheep

we need to put a end to people being able to glorify this in the media and internet and tv.

until we do that theres going to be copycats everyday and this same type of news story will pop up again tomorow



people need to stop all the immature bs

people need to not be as detached, these people need to be bought back down to earth

a life was lost and humanity stood still

are we still in the roman ages? is the internet the colliseum

will we go down burning like nero?

it seems so if humanity doesnt adapt the ways theyve lived for the past couple thousand years

we may have gained technology but psychologically we're mostly peons proven by this situation

and the fact people are even here able to argue about petty things



edited to add

i dont want censorship, i know moderators cant be responsible for this kids situation
i dont think people should be persecuted soley for something they say online

but these people being so careless about human life

they are the ones i feel should be responsible

its illegal now to make racial derogetory remarks

yet online people can endorse someone killing themselves and go unpunished???

im not saying ban free speech

but when someone says something which proves they are completely blatantly ignorant, and extremely dangerous and deadly, then they dont deserve those freedoms, they deserve to be treated as the criminals they are, and face the punishment for doing so

for those who didnt take it seriously, thought it was a joke or he was kidding, so that made it ok for you to egg him on? grow up and find something better to do

joking about telling someone to kill themselves is a irresponsibly ignorant statement

you're not sitting around joking with your best freind and being playful because he beat you in a video game and you're mad at him

this is a real person somewhere that you dont know, how can you as a human encourage suicide? how can we as a culture allow those people to go unpunished?



[edit on 22-11-2008 by Dramey]

He talks about how nobody likes him. What does he possibly do that makes everyone hate him?

He is a good looking guy, and he sounds very intelligent. Again, why did he do it?

People mentioned him being far off reality, but isn't it the opposite?

Did he ever look around him and see that there are millions of people FAR off worse than him? People that grew up without parents, were abused in foster homes, and now work at Wal-Mart at the age of 18, soon to become adults, while trying to make enough money to survive, or possibly feed their kid. They are hated, looked down on, considered "trash" by society's assholes, because they never had any real parents etc. Yet they can manage to still live and fight?

This kid was obviously very weak. He had a wonderful family, a chance at college, a girlfriend, yet he goes around and cries about people not liking him for uh...what reason again? I don't know, he just seems like an extremely spoiled kid that never had a good look at the real world.

I used to think like him when I was around 16. Everyone hated me. I am a piece of crap that could never make my parents happy or accomplish anything in life.

Then one day, after ending up in the hospital for certain problems, and having to sit at home on the computer trying to amuse myself, I realized certain things. I discovered a lot about myself while I was alone. I did research on many subjects, and it was very addicting.

I only have one life. There are millions out there who have lives I could never imagine living, without killing myself. Back then, almost everyday I started feeling guilty about any complaints I made, and I even started getting depressed the further my eyes opened.

The world can be a horrible place. Only the strong can survive. But the strong can also protect the weak. He was a very weak person, obviously. This disgusting mess could have been stopped, and he could have gotten some serious therapy and counseling. Perhaps even discover more things about himself. He could've realized his intelligence and potential, and how he has more of it than...certain...people out there, that walk around with empty minds and their noses pointing to the sky. But...

Anyways, when I grow into my 40s, and I get truly annoyed/tired of life and the people in it... I'll just do the thing I always wanted to do. Buy a house somewhere far off in the mountains of Alaska, and live a simple life of fishing, nature, and relaxation, along with the few pets I will bring with me. Until I die in my sleep, peacefully.

I was a member of Bodybuilding.com around 2000-2001. At the time I knew almost everything you could know about steroids including how to produce them.

I believe that this kid was doing cycles and didn't know what he was doing or stopped them cold turkey causing some serious emotional turmoil leading to this. Steroids will mess every part of your life up.

May his family be able to find peace in this tragic time.

First of all it is NOT illegal to make racially derogatory remarks in the U.S.

And why just stop with prosecuting various internet people that did not know him, know if it was real, or know how to provide info for the authorities?

If we are going to blame everyone that "could have stopped this" we had better start a criminal investigation into ALL of his close family, friends, work associates, classmates, etc... as well. Surely those closest to him had far more intimate knowledge regarding his mental instability and emotional distress. And where did he get the drugs? Doctors? All these people should be investigated and prosecuted if possible.

Lets start a massive criminal investigation and prosecute anyone that had a clue he might do this. Maybe we can send a bunch of them to prison so we can rid the world of suicides.

Oh and let's make another new law, if anyone on the internet makes a crazy threat or for that matter mentions ANY sort of illegal activity of any kind make it mandatory for all those that read the threat call 911 immediately or face prosecution. It should not matter if the threat is realized, if they make it we should all run to the phone and dial the local authorities ASAP and tell them that “some guy on the internet” seems unbalanced and could be a threat to himself or others.

You folks who are blaming the spectators really need to rethink your attitudes. People always fall victim to this sort of knee-jerk emotional response when they hear about something like this. But really, if you were watching a webcam of some guy who said he was gonna kill himself, and started taking a buch of pills, you'd probably think it was candy, and it was all a big joke. And 99.99999% of the time, you'd be right! Because the internet is full of baloney like that!

I feel terribly, terribly sorry for the people who watched this. Even the ones who mocked him, cheered him on and said other horrible things. Heck, those are the ones I fell especially sorry for, because now they must feel incredibly guilty and have to worry about charges being filed.

reply to post by guyopitz

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You just offered the way that you plan to kill yourself which means you have given it a lot of thought and chances of you following through are much higher than someone who doesn't have a plan.

Is there something that we can do to help you? Feel free to U2U me if you need to talk. I'm sure many others on ATS would also be happy to hear from you and help you through whatever difficult time you may be experiencing.

Jemison

Jemison are you serious? Or being sarcastic? In reality if that guy lights himself on fire in a public place he will probably not be committing suicide, he will however end up in a burn unit suffering unimaginable pain and being a scarred up mess for his life.

guyopitz I do not think for one moment you would do it (but gosh if you do I guess I might be going to jail!) however if you are that out of touch with reality I should tell you that is a really really bad idea.

I am serious. And I sent him a U2U. You can make fun of me if you want but I was trained never to ignore any talk of suicide - especially when someone has a plan.

How is ignoring his post that says "WHEN I kill myself" productive? Anytime someone talks about killing themself it should be taken seriously.

Sorry if anyone thinks that I handled his post poorly, I didn't mean to upset or offend anyone.

Jemison

reply to post by Jemison

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I sent him a u2u a few hours ago, so I think you've done exactly the right thing.

Up 'til now I've had no response.

Maybe now that three of us are concerned Guyopitz will get back in touch. I hope so.

reply to post by Sonya610

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Obviously you don't know anything about how responsibility works. You see, responsibility is OTHER PEOPLE'S responsibility. Think about it, you'll wrap your head around it in time. Its not this guy's Family's fault. Its not his girlfriend's fault, It can't possibly be the fault of anybody who knew him personally and were in a position to recognize signs of depression and do something about it.

its the fault of people who belonged to a website who never even met him and couldn't possibly know him. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you and I are personally responsible because we share part of the blame in not hunting down those particular forum members and making sure that each and every one of them are brought to justice for personally murdering this poor defenseless brilliant and obviously perfect young man.

And don't you even DARE considering that it was the guy who killed himself's fault. Obviously he had no control over his own actions and other people should have been watching him 24-7, despite the fact that if a news story came out that said "Man Watched 24-7 because he was depressed" people on this board would be crying "FASCISM! OBAMA'S THE ANTICHRIST! SOCIALISM! 1984!"

Just let it rest people. Yeah, there are people who are depressed, and yeah people kill themselves, and yeah, lots of them could be saved. But its up to family and friends to do the saving, not random strangers on a freaking discussion forum for cryingoutloud.

edit to add: PS. WHEN (not if) I kill myself Its going to be with 10 hookers, a pound of cocaine, a midget with a webcam, a bag containing 4 million dollars with dollar signs printed on the front of it, and a suitcase nuke big enough to take a sizeable portion of manhattan with me. So far, I got about $27.34 towards the money. No luck with the other stuff. Yet. If you guys don't try to stop me, you are all going to jail, now that my plan has been made public.



[edit on 22-11-2008 by ldunquist]

reply to post by berenike

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Glad someone is on the same page as I am. I was a bit confused that anyone would take my sincere concern as sarcasm or feel that it was somehow inappropriate. Anyone who talks about killing themselves deserves to be taken seriously.

Jemison

I am on the phone with 911 right now! Oh and I will send you a u2u, I am here and I feel your pain! (we may both go to hell for these comments…lol)

Seriously, it is nice that the members on this forum take things so personally, I just hope they stick to general forums where these comments are rare and far between. But in all seriousness, the guy made an offhand comment that was EXTREMELY unrealistic! Lighting himself on fire in public! I do not for one moment believe he meant that seriously, and if he did he needs to do a bit of research. He would have to be a complete nutcase that has no clue about the reality of such a scenario.

Perhaps he will enlighten us (no pun intended). But if he doesn’t don’t worry, if he fires it up in a shopping mall it will make the national news so we will for sure hear about it. We won’t be left wondering “did he really do it?”

reply to post by Sonya610

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Your U2U didn't seem to come through, and I just found 72 for cents towards my goal in the sofa cushions!

Seriously though, I am not trying to be *that* completely cold and callous about suicide, but my point is more that there is a certain amount of outside thinking one has to bring into these situations instead of taking the stance that every suicide threat needs to be taken with utmost seriousness, especially on the internet.

Going back to the original topic, this guy had a family, he had a girlfriend, he had the support that alot of people who make similar threats just don't have. In other words, he was obviously determined enough to see this through no matter what the internet forum did.

As for me, I wouldn't watch on the forum let alone egg him on, but I don't exactly condemn those who did. If they are decent people, their consciences are going to punish them enough for the rest of their lives without having to round them up and arrest them as sme people here have been suggesting.

reply to post by thebox

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Man, you guys, I was there. I actually encouraged this kid to kill himself with taunts of,"An hero" and "delivar". I didn't think he'd actually do it. I feel bad, a little bit and I'm sorry that that young man became a statistic. But, it was his choice and good entertainment.

reply to post by RComrade110

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How did you find out it was going on? At what point did you realize that it was actually happening? Were you by yourself watching or with others? How would you handle things differently if you found yourself in this situation again?

Maybe by answering some of those questions we can all learn something and help avoid something like this happening in the future. Thanks for your honesty.

Jemison