Kid dies while his friends watch

[homer]

I am saddened by what happened to this young man, however it is his own fault. If I am reading this article correctly he was trying to show off.

In response to Melusine, I have only this say. He was not a teenager he was 21. Aswell, I think it is entirely possible he was not depressed per say, just someone who liked to get high.

[Melusine]

Yep. And so, based on speculation and our nice ingrained prejudices, we can pat ourselves on the shoulder satisfiedly and say "HE DESERVED TO DIE". Sorry, I don't work that way. I wasn't trying to excuse his behaviour, I was trying to show people you cannot judge a person you don't even know that quickly, let alone make a judgement about their right to live.

Edit: Listen, I'm not saying that my version is any more plausible - merely that it's JUST AS plausible. Why do we immediately choose to think the worst of people?
Oh and a note: the physical effects of puberty are usually comlpeted around the age of 20, but the psychological state of mind can and DOES continue after that. Boys often enter puberty later than girls, and girls mature at an earlier age (generally speaking!) and I've known enough guys around that age who were clearly still struggling with some of the psychological troubles that teenagers do.

[ 02-04-2003, 10:01 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Larry_OHF]

I blame it mostly on the viewers. If that guy would not have had anybody watching and cheering him on...he would not have had such an interest in it. Especially the one that talked the other out of hanging up on the 911 call. Everyone could clearly see that the guy wnet too far, and it was their humane responsibility to allow that emergency call to go through...

I would not be surprised if this were treated like a murder case.

If I was the parents, I'd definately be pursuing some sort of legal action against those kids.

[arion windrider]

i blame it on him for thinking he was macho for handling the drugs the way he did and the idiots for watching him and rooting him on..

[AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe]

Originally posted by LordKathen: This reminds me of the trend of kids dieing by hanging while masterbating. Rediculous.

auto erotic asphixiation. Got to be a perverted moron to try it. As far as this guy is concerned, This is really sad. I can't at all blame the people watching because he was going to do what he wanted to do anyways. It said some tried to help, but how were they to know whether he really was taking prescribtion medication? He could have been taking asprin in prescription bottles for all the veiwers knew. none of them even knew his real name, how would they know? Its tyhe kid's own fault he was sad and dpressed and he killed himself, and thats relly all there is to it. It's always sad, but it happens everyday. What makes this one different is that he was logged online at the time, which really doesnt make it much different.

[andrewas]

Have to disagree Azrael. With help the kid would probly still be alive. Good friends, even online ones, might have been enough. But he met those freaks instead.

And encouraging someone who says hes taking lethal quantities of drugs is stupid, even if its not clear if its for real or not.

[pritchke]

You people are missing something here. The person was taking perscribed drugs for depression and mental illness which may not have been a result of something he did. Mentally depressed people do not function normally unless thay are taking prescribed doses of medication. At some point if he mixed with other drugs, avoided, or took one two many a relapse could easily occur. Once your brain stops funtioning properly again it is hard to get back on track by yourself because the prescription may no longer even be the correct dosage. A mental relapse could have been the cause of him OD ing as he was not thinking clearly when he did this. Than again maybe not but it is a likely possibility to think about before we cast our stones at him being an idiot, and his fault.

[RevRuby]

many teenagers make attempts (and some succeed) for attention. i see that this guy obviously wanted attention. that is not something that can be denied. and at 21, whether he was physically or psychologically mature, one can still be depressed. there are numerous adults on anti-depreaants. what is the difference between them and this kid? not much. a little more maturity, and maybe a lot more responsibility, but not all adults are more mature or responsible than him. it is a sad tragedy that this happened. it is a sad dayf or the human race that some of our members encouraged it. but no person here or anywhere else is immune to depression, peer pressure, and drugs. if we take/do drugs we are effected, prescription, over the counter, illegal, we all are effected by them. depression brings us down, makes the liekly hood of wanting/needing drugs higher. and peer pressure...well i once told my husband i never listened to peer pressure, but i know that i have, and i'm sorry morgie that i refused to see that, and admit it during our arguement. i may not have done illegal drugs or sex as a teen because of peer pressure, but i have tried numerous weight loss fads, drugs, diets etc. because i was made fun of and felt outcast because of being overweight. so here and now, i say-NONE OF US ARE VERY BRIGHT, AND WE CAN ALL MAKE THESE SAME MISTAKES. SO DO NOT JUDGE HARSHLY, FOR ONE DAY YOU WILL BE JUDGED!

[Attalus]

I agree with most of you post, Mel, especially that many 21 year olds are not very mature. Also that cocktail of drugs would be very depression-inducing. The point that Galadria picked up on (she read this with me) is the bit about the Internet chat sites that druggies use to trade faking symptoms to get doctors to prescibe prescription medications for them when in reality, they are going to use them recreationally. It is a fact that druggies' stories tend to sound the same, and when we hear some of them, "red flags" go up, that alert the physician and his staff to what we term "drug-seeking behavior." The use of the sentence, "I have just moved to town and am looking to establish myself with a new physician," just about gaurantees that no drugs or prescriptopns for controlled substances will be forthcoming from me. There are many others, such as seductive or overly-friendly behavior. Don't get me started. I cewrtainly agree that the onlookers were guilty of quite reprehensible behavior.

[Leonis]

How many times have we had that one drink too many, or misjudged a corner while speeding, or gone to jump over something and fallen on our faces?

Did we deserve to die then?

Well said Mel, sounds like this kid did have problems, and that he made an error.

The amount of times I've narrowly avoided serious injury or death as a result of not thinking, doing something stupid or careless etc, makes me shudder...