The Latest Teen Internet Suicide
I have been posting all week about the biggest teen story on the Internet: The trial of the MySpace suicide case. Well, I’m sorry to say that while I was following the tail/tale of this complex conundrum of a courtroom drama, another, as shocking - if you can believe it - story was just beginning to stir. By this morning search phrases like “teen Internet suicide” were generating hits of a different kind.
In addition to Megan Meier, the phrase “Internet suicide” may become indelibly tangled with the name Abraham Biggs, the victim of a bizarre suicide that the teenage college student digicast live over the Internet.
Abraham Biggs was a student at Broward college. The troubled teen suffered from manic depression - more popularly known as bipolar disorder - and was staying at his father’s house, streaming a view of himself at his father’s bedroom computer via a webcam, on the network Justin.tv
At 3AM Wednesday morning, Justin declared that he was going to commit suicide live on the stream. More than 12 hours later, after numerous calls to police, Abraham was discovered dead on his father’s bed, the webcam still streaming the image of his still body.
Numerous viewers tuned in during the “episode”. Some tried to talk him out of it, while others goaded and egged Biggs on, encouraging him to take his own life.
Beyond the sad tragedy that is any suicide, and the twisted circumstances that lead to this kind of necro-voyeurism, this case has resonances with the Megan Meier’s case. To what degree are the viewers “responsible” - actively or passively - for the teen’s death?
Doctors have determined that the cause of death was a chemical overdose of opiates and the boy’s benzodiazepine medication.
More from around the sphere:
- … this sort of thing happens, one article reported on a suicide prevention agency that states since 2001, there have been 17 suicides in Britain directly related to internet chat rooms or sites that give information on how to do it. … - Keith Whitworth, a professor of sociology at Texas Christian University who studies Internet fraud and social networking sites, said Biggs’ act is similar to suicide pacts in Japan and school shootings in the USA that end with suicide: … - Abraham K. Biggs, known as Candy Junkie on the BodyBuilding .com forums that he frequented, had threatened to commit suicide many times. However, last week, he really meant it. And so it was that Abraham Biggs downed an overdose of … - US: Teenager Abraham Commits Suicide Live On Web. MB November 24, 2008, 6:22 pm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk8t9_q4Pbo. Categorised as: USA Tagged as: internet, suicide. Please leave a comment. Name (required) … - I wonder if anyone who’s posted so far, whether to support the father or condemn him, realize that the young man’s displaying his suicide on the internet was a call for help. If any of you know anything about suicide, you’ll know that … |
