What prompted respondents to encourage a teenage girl to kill herself?
So, who do we blame for the tragic death of the teenage girl who killed herself after respondents to an online poll encouraged her to do so?
Do we blame the parents, teachers, society, social media?
She was just 16 and had her whole life ahead of her, but sadly, her very own Instagram account influenced her to end her life.
Though this may be an isolated incident in our country, it is nevertheless a cause for great concern.
One can conclude that most of the respondents to her Instagram poll were youngsters, leading to the next question of just how sick is our young generation?
Back in the days, our only concern was to get caught watching some porn video, but these days, the threats are much greater.
The main negative influence we used to worry about was smoking back in my school days in the 1980s.
But now, the list is endless. The dawn of the internet and social media has opened doors beyond our imaginations and our kids have become so quickly drawn to it.
As a journalist, I recall even in my junior days, my News Editor used to tell me – sex and crime sell, and over the years, I realise how true it is.
With the numerous tracking tools we have now, each day, I notice the most read stories are always the most gruesome, painful and horrifying ones.
Can we conclude that our society has become sick in the head?
If so, then what caused us to become this way?
Right-minded members of society would have immediately reported the girl’s Instagram posting, while others should have tried to talk her out of it.
Instead, society egged her on to die.
I used to feel guilty to go through my 13-year-old son’s messages on his handphone whenever I got a chance, but then I realised this was something I had to do.
As a parent, I realised there were issues about him which I never imagined.
Scrolling through his messages opened my eyes to many troubling issues which my wife and I are now slowly addressing with him.
As parents, we have no choice. As busy as we are, we must take the time to pay attention to what our kids are up to.
Also, we must make it a point to also understand certain things in social media and how it works.
Social media and play stations are here to stay and sadly, they are going to shape our future generation.
Ask yourself, how often do you see kids playing football or badminton in playgrounds and parks these days?
The gym in my condo is only used by those above the age of 30 at the most.
Those days of climbing trees, playing in the mud, jumping across drains are as long gone as dinosaurs.
Kids these days are fueled by the internet and unfortunately, a large percentage of this is negative.
People out there know what teens and society want, and they have no issues providing it as long as they get their returns.
The Dark Web is just one of many horrific realms one can access, not to mention the numerous paedophiles and other sickos lurking on social media.
Parents, you have no choice these days – you have to stay on top of things, or risk the worse for your kids.
Related reports:
May 16, Anger Erupts at Sarawak Teen’s Instagram Followers Who Urged Her to Die
May 15, Distress over Teen Suicide Believed Spurred by Instagram Poll