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Topic: what would you have done?
tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 10:50 AM
I'm not sure what the local police would do if they got such a call. How would they find this person? It would be better to notify the owner of the site so that they can determine the person's location and then notify the authorities. It would be unlikely that you could get the location of the person until it was too late. But, I would attempt to do so. what if you knew the person? That's a no-brainer for me. I'd not only call the police, but I'd be in my car on my way to where I knew they were. it should be a no-brainer as you say for everyone, but i personally see no diff. in whether i know someone or not, i know i would try my best to do what i could unless told by the person[s] they did not want my help emphatically as i once was told. The difference is not in whether or not to do something, the difference is in what I can do. It all comes down to the physical whereabouts of the person in question. This is not so simple to find out from the internet. If I knew the person I would most likely know where they were physically and could act with more confidence. If I told you all right now I was going to kill myself, who would you call right this minute? as you - i would first notify the site mods and then see your friends list if i could and message them to see if they knew where you were address and phone wise then call 911 if i could to tell them.

cutelildevilsmom Joined Sat 04/07/07 Posts: 8862	Sun 11/23/08 10:56 AM
On the internet it is hard to tell if something is staged or not so I would have probably done nothing. thnx for your honesty. are you saying that if you had seen it or watched it for hours you would feel this way? I doubt it would have caught my attention that long but if I did watch it for hours it would still be hard to figure out if its real or not.I would still do nothing. In real life I would stop for an accident or prevent a suicide but like I said the internet is full of sickos.Fact from fiction is a hard call.

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 11:10 AM
I'm not sure what the local police would do if they got such a call. How would they find this person? It would be better to notify the owner of the site so that they can determine the person's location and then notify the authorities. It would be unlikely that you could get the location of the person until it was too late. But, I would attempt to do so. what if you knew the person? That's a no-brainer for me. I'd not only call the police, but I'd be in my car on my way to where I knew they were. it should be a no-brainer as you say for everyone, but i personally see no diff. in whether i know someone or not, i know i would try my best to do what i could unless told by the person[s] they did not want my help emphatically as i once was told. The difference is not in whether or not to do something, the difference is in what I can do. It all comes down to the physical whereabouts of the person in question. This is not so simple to find out from the internet. If I knew the person I would most likely know where they were physically and could act with more confidence. If I told you all right now I was going to kill myself, who would you call right this minute? as you - i would first notify the site mods and then see your friends list if i could and message them to see if they knew where you were address and phone wise then call 911 if i could to tell them. And that is what I would do as well. It would most likely not be quick enough to really stop someone who was in progress. However you have to try because they may change their mind and not go through with it but still be in need of medical attention. Not to mention they need some psychiatric care as soon as possible.

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 11:11 AM
On the internet it is hard to tell if something is staged or not so I would have probably done nothing. thnx for your honesty. are you saying that if you had seen it or watched it for hours you would feel this way? I doubt it would have caught my attention that long but if I did watch it for hours it would still be hard to figure out if its real or not.I would still do nothing. In real life I would stop for an accident or prevent a suicide but like I said the internet is full of sickos.Fact from fiction is a hard call. thnx CLDM

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 11:14 AM
I'm really glad you brought this up. I'm doing research for a series of presentations I will be giving to high school students on identity theft and internet security. This is going to be a good addition to the presentation.

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 11:19 AM
I'm really glad you brought this up. I'm doing research for a series of presentations I will be giving to high school students on identity theft and internet security. This is going to be a good addition to the presentation. how interesting, good luck with that my lady -

adj4u Joined Sun 04/08/07 Posts: 21254	Sun 11/23/08 12:37 PM
he is an adult i am 1000+ miles away what would you expect me to do i have no idea if it is real i would of probably thought it was a sensationalists prank and done nothing (i doubt i would have even paid any attention in the first place) as they say life goes on well most of the time he was an adult made his own decision nothing any one could do watching on their computer and i doubt calling authorities would done any good they would say what i said earlier in this post imo

Drew07_2 Joined Thu 09/20/07 Posts: 716	Sun 11/23/08 01:08 PM Edited by Drew07_2 on Sun 11/23/08 01:09 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 01:49 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew THNX Drew, I'm with you on that, it is to me a moral obligation also no matter who or what or where. if nothing else it's my trying to see who would be a neighbor to me or i to them. it's nice to know who would help you or visa versa should something happen. though i do see others points on this, i don't personally agree with them, we all have our reasons why we do or don't do things. some may see it as being intrusive, i see it as being concerned. and not from a religious point at all. just a human point.

Drew07_2 Joined Thu 09/20/07 Posts: 716	Sun 11/23/08 01:53 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew THNX Drew, I'm with you on that, it is to me a moral obligation also no matter who or what or where. if nothing else it's my trying to see who would be a neighbor to me or i to them. it's nice to know who would help you or visa versa should something happen. though i do see others points on this, i don't personally agree with them, we all have our reasons why we do or don't do things. some may see it as being intrusive, i see it as being concerned. and not from a religious point at all. just a human point. Tribo---I understand your point. Thanks for allowing all to express their opinions. I just have a tough time with a lot of the people (not people here at Mingle) who were actually encouraging this guy to go through with it. That some people have nothing better to do with their time but encourage a person to OD on drugs is really quite sad. -Drew

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 01:57 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew THNX Drew, I'm with you on that, it is to me a moral obligation also no matter who or what or where. if nothing else it's my trying to see who would be a neighbor to me or i to them. it's nice to know who would help you or visa versa should something happen. though i do see others points on this, i don't personally agree with them, we all have our reasons why we do or don't do things. some may see it as being intrusive, i see it as being concerned. and not from a religious point at all. just a human point. Tribo---I understand your point. Thanks for allowing all to express their opinions. I just have a tough time with a lot of the people (not people here at Mingle) who were actually encouraging this guy to go through with it. That some people have nothing better to do with their time but encourage a person to OD on drugs is really quite sad. -Drew

noblenan Joined Sat 10/06/07 Posts: 935	Sun 11/23/08 02:59 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew THNX Drew, I'm with you on that, it is to me a moral obligation also no matter who or what or where. if nothing else it's my trying to see who would be a neighbor to me or i to them. it's nice to know who would help you or visa versa should something happen. though i do see others points on this, i don't personally agree with them, we all have our reasons why we do or don't do things. some may see it as being intrusive, i see it as being concerned. and not from a religious point at all. just a human point. Tribo---I understand your point. Thanks for allowing all to express their opinions. I just have a tough time with a lot of the people (not people here at Mingle) who were actually encouraging this guy to go through with it. That some people have nothing better to do with their time but encourage a person to OD on drugs is really quite sad. -Drew Depression fueled suicide is preventable. I anybody is interested, here's a link to the signs. It would be good if every body knew them. Good job, Drew! http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705F4071-99A7-F3F5-E2A64A5A8BEAADD8

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 03:01 PM
To encourage a depressed or suicidal person to commit suicide is murder in my opinion. Too bad you can't get them on criminal charges. Although maybe you can. there was that movie years ago with Jodie Foster where she was gang raped in a bar while several of the patrons egged the perpetrators on. They eventually charged those who did not actually rape her, but encouraged the ones who did. I thought that was based on a true story.

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 03:14 PM Edited by tribo on Sun 11/23/08 03:21 PM
To encourage a depressed or suicidal person to commit suicide is murder in my opinion. Too bad you can't get them on criminal charges. Although maybe you can. there was that movie years ago with Jodie Foster where she was gang raped in a bar while several of the patrons egged the perpetrators on. They eventually charged those who did not actually rape her, but encouraged the ones who did. I thought that was based on a true story. it was based on a true story - dam good movie to!! a little diff. here though, i'm not sure of how it can be brought to trial, seeing as they did no personal harm - maybe mental anguish? leading to even more serious desperation? i dont know? those who egged him on im talking of. hmmm? Biggs announced his plans to kill himself over a Web site for bodybuilders, authorities said. But some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before. tribo: this is the hard part. Some members of his virtual audience encouraged him to do it, others tried to talk him out of it, and some discussed whether he was taking a dose big enough to kill himself, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office. TRIBO: and here we see at least 3 diff. reactions, for those who tried to "talk him out of it" they should have spent their time trying to do as we have spoken of but their young and not thinking straight so its easy to give hindsite, but even when i was young i would have done more personally if the web had exisited then. as to the others if he had threatened it before - its kinda the boy crying wolf syndrome though it doesn't say he did this multiple times - its a hard call and most of all a needless tragedy to say the leat, hopefully all will learn from this but i hate that cliche' !!

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 03:17 PM
To encourage a depressed or suicidal person to commit suicide is murder in my opinion. Too bad you can't get them on criminal charges. Although maybe you can. there was that movie years ago with Jodie Foster where she was gang raped in a bar while several of the patrons egged the perpetrators on. They eventually charged those who did not actually rape her, but encouraged the ones who did. I thought that was based on a true story. it was based on a true story - dam good movie to!! a little diff. here though, i'm not sure of how it can be brought to trial, seeing as they did no personal harm - maybe mental anguish? leading to even more serious desperation? i dont know? those who egged him on im talking of. hmmm? I don't think it is different. The defendants in the movie did no personal harm either. Suicide is a crime. Rape is a crime. In both cases you have people encouraging someone to commit a crime. I'll have to google the movie and see what those guys were charged with.

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 03:21 PM
It was criminal solicitation and if they could convict those guys of it I bet they could convict in this case if they had written (i.e. online posts) evidence of what the people said. Of course, you'd have to have someone in the DA's office to care enough to go after this. Plus, I just thought of this, we are talking about people out of the state and/or country. That could be a big problem in charging anyone.

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 03:22 PM
I'm sorry, but some of the responses here make me sick. To those who would have done nothing I wonder, if it was your child, your brother, your spouse, if you would feel the same--if you would have been content knowing that I sat there and watched all of this like I was taking in a home improvement show? Perhaps you would (which is scary in its own right) but this is NOT about assisted suicide and there would have been nothing to indicate that this young man was near death from an unrelated disease or condition. I would have called 911 and done my best to stop it because a number of conditions are treatable or at least manageable. Since suicide is an irrational act (in most cases) it stands to reason that sane and rational thought is outside of the person's control. For that reason, a call to the police (no matter the outcome) is the responsible thing to do. It's also a moral imperative. It isn't about whether or not the police arrive in time or whether or not the young man really "meant" to kill himself. It is about recognizing putting out the fire that is burning your neighbor's house and it is about doing the right thing even when the outcome is not promised. This is not a religious issue for me nor is it a distorted view of the world that casts me or any of you in the role of savior. It is about seeing a human being in so much pain, in so much hopelessness that the ending of life seems the best way to proceed. To sit and watch that, not to be bothered by that enough to reach for a phone or e-mail a Webmaster? I don't get that. I really don't. -Drew THNX Drew, I'm with you on that, it is to me a moral obligation also no matter who or what or where. if nothing else it's my trying to see who would be a neighbor to me or i to them. it's nice to know who would help you or visa versa should something happen. though i do see others points on this, i don't personally agree with them, we all have our reasons why we do or don't do things. some may see it as being intrusive, i see it as being concerned. and not from a religious point at all. just a human point. Tribo---I understand your point. Thanks for allowing all to express their opinions. I just have a tough time with a lot of the people (not people here at Mingle) who were actually encouraging this guy to go through with it. That some people have nothing better to do with their time but encourage a person to OD on drugs is really quite sad. -Drew Depression fueled suicide is preventable. I anybody is interested, here's a link to the signs. It would be good if every body knew them. Good job, Drew! http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705F4071-99A7-F3F5-E2A64A5A8BEAADD8 thnx for that NN

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 03:26 PM
It was criminal solicitation and if they could convict those guys of it I bet they could convict in this case if they had written (i.e. online posts) evidence of what the people said. Of course, you'd have to have someone in the DA's office to care enough to go after this. Plus, I just thought of this, we are talking about people out of the state and/or country. That could be a big problem in charging anyone. yeh, im not saying it couldn't be done, but i dont think its slam dunk case by any means. form a legal point anyway. maybe will see if it goes that route or not. i think it would be a precedent case if so.

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Sun 11/23/08 03:31 PM
yeh, im not saying it couldn't be done, but i dont think its slam dunk case by any means. form a legal point anyway. maybe will see if it goes that route or not. i think it would be a precedent case if so. It would be a tough case, no doubt about it. But, once I realized that the defendants would be people out of state I realized it would be impossible. It can't happen. Oh well. I hope they never get a decent night's sleep again.

tribo Joined Mon 05/12/08 Posts: 5577	Sun 11/23/08 03:41 PM
yeh, im not saying it couldn't be done, but i dont think its slam dunk case by any means. form a legal point anyway. maybe will see if it goes that route or not. i think it would be a precedent case if so. It would be a tough case, no doubt about it. But, once I realized that the defendants would be people out of state I realized it would be impossible. It can't happen. Oh well. I hope they never get a decent night's sleep again. what would be sad is if they did.