I don't get what's going on in my town

[Shaniece]

Remember the suicides in Bridgend, South Wales? Well another two youngsters have committed suicide.

Don't want to depress you all on a Friday night, but it saddens me these youngsters feel they have no one to talk to or there is no way out . What can we do? How can we help young people?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7247421.stm

it's really strange.

Poor kids and their poor families. That is a high number, I hope they will look into more youth outreach projects, and other community youth services.

It's awful, I really cannot understand what's going on in brigend (you're not that far from us, 10 m-way junctions to be precise, we were there in the week).

Just beggars belief.

The problem is that the media reaction is now bonkers. So the teens are probably thinking "ooh we are cursed!" but also "Ooh this will get me on the front page of the Sun" - normally teenage suicides don't make even local papers, because it's a subject even local journos won't touch.

I vaguely work in mental health and know of 3 local teen suicides in the last few months, but none have been mentioned at all in the local press.

Very true morningpaper.

Where you from then Peachy?

There was a big double-page article in The Telegraph about this a couple of Sundays ago. I can't believe that another two have gone ..

The phenomena of seemingly 'mass' teenage suicides is traced to various websites in the States, where youngsters encourage others to 'catch the last bus ..' (or take the final bus ride).

Whilst they're being cautious about links at this stage, there is a lot of concern that the problem has crossed to the UK. Bridgend was cited in the article.

I raised a thread about this several weeks ago. It shocked me so much.

I don't think there is any evidence of a website conspiracy in Bridgend - it's more that the media coverage is now out of control. What WOULD have been a private family matter is now tabloid glamour. If you are a depressed teen in Bridgend with no future except stacking shelves in Lidl, getting on the front page of some red-top in one final blaze of glory is probably extremely attractive.

Strictly speaking, the press is not supposed to report the cause of suicides! But the whole 'hanging' thing has become almost cult-like in itself.

Shaniece- we're in Caerleon.

Agree aboutt he media coverage, can't be helping.

my poor friend lost both her brother and son to suicide in a short time (i think under a year) yet it didn't get any coverage- the brigend sit compares so differently (she's now hoping to work as a counsellor for the famillies of suicide vicitms)

There has been a culture change about this generally though, fueled by networking websites - whereas once you would kill yourself and it would be seen as a failure and TBH quite shameful, now it is seem as a route to instant local celebrity, with friends setting up memorial walls on networking sites etc. Having suicide as a taboo is actually quite beneficial. Turning into into something glamorous is a fecking disaster and the press should have no part in it IMO.

It doesn't take much to trigger a suicide either if the eprson is vulnerable- friends son's was over £300 debt .

Tragic Peachy. Suicide is always utterly devastating for all involved.

I remember your thread Desiderata. Very interesting.

Morningpaper - I agree suicide amongst young people is becoming glamorous - It's shocking.

Peachy - Caerleon is not too far away from me but far enough - (I hate driving).

Morningpaper - I agree, the media has a lot to answer for. The whole thing has been given so much attention - you can see how a young vulnerable person who can't see a positive future for themself could end up being drawn into this.

I don't think the media are sensationalizing this, to be honest. I think they've been pretty downbeat, particularly on the Bridgend problem.

There are moves afoot to ban websites which appear to encourage or glamorize suicide. I think this problem deserves a little more scrutiny than it's currently getting, not less.

Something very strange is happening, in the middle of the night, to some of the nation's teenagers whilst clicking away on the 'net. Whilst I agree that places like Bridgend need to improve their adolescent support/social facilities, there is quite obviously something else afoot here. This is far higher than the national average.

Good argument Desiderata. But are there really moves afoot to ban websites glamorizing suicide?

I agree that the suicide rate in Bridgend is far higher than the national average - hence the publicity.

I can see morningpapers arguement too. Are these youngsters doing this to be a kind of celeb or too be famous for just that??
I wish I knew the answer to this. It's very worrying.

Yes, I agree with MorningPaper too. This is what the Telegraph article was all about.

These websites (some of them are very specifically pro-suicide), are glamorizing the ending of life. Children who are vulnerable and unhappy are being dragged into a surreal chatroom world, where it becomes far easier to do what teenagers (lets face it) have been doing for years .. taking their own lives.

But there are alarming clusters (such as Bridgend, and the US can cite many, I believe), and they are generally in areas where depression is already quite rife. So the one feeds the other. Some of the kids truly believe that the only way they shall achieve fame, (something completely unimportant to my generation), is to do something that will immortalize you.

Unfortunately, however, these poor kids are immortalized for no more than five minutes, before the next kid comes along. Life is cheap at midnight, when your life is already shit, and people are cyber-whispering in your ear that there is an easy solution.

The article I read implied that suicide web-sites (or any site that glamorized it as a sub-text) would be closed down, in much the same way as the law currently applies to paedophile sites.

It won't stop them, but it will make it much harder for teenagers to access them, and the instigators can, at least, be prosecuted for incitement to commit suicide.

It's strange how all (or most) of the youngsters that commited suicide knew each other some way or another - although the authorities say there is absolutely no connection. Of course there is a connection ????

Well, I'm not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but my hackles are up with this.

I think the authorities are playing it down for a reason .. probably for a number of reasons.

There are self-harm websites and anorexia websites, etc, etc. These aren't support networks in the common sense of the term. They're quite the opposite.

They're out there, and poor, angst-ridden, spotty teenagers are falling prey. I don't think society has fully got to grips with this modern phenomena. We allow our teenagers (I have four step-children) unsupervised access to all manner of weird stuff, at a time when their minds are still forming.

I'd be grateful if you would keep me posted on this, Shaniece. I didn't know you were from Bridgend. This would make small news in the national newspapers, but having picked up on it, I'd like to keep up-to-date.

I will keep you up to date Desi .

I saw this on the Welsh news last night.

for all those concerned.

Shaniece I have wondered how traumatic and distressing it must be for those who live there. I feel so sorry for all those affected, even on the edge of what is happening. Are parents now coming together to try to provide a network for those vulnerable?

This is so shocking I don't know why it has not got more media coverage. Bridgend is not the biggest place.

Having said that I don't know how helpful more media coverage would be, except that it does tend to galvanise response. Somebody should be sending armies of counsellors and advisors to youth groups and schools, surely?

I think it's extremely frightening. Why are these sites allowed? They should be policed and closed down. I don't know how society can make suicide seem 'taboo' now that it has been glamorised to such an extent. My ds was talking about suicide the other day. I don't know where he found out about it - he's 9.

It was Kurt Cobain's mother herself who said he had become a member of The Stupid Club. That suicidal angst had become so glamorised he was taken in by it. These poor teenagers. They are so young, they can't have any idea what they are dealing with when they start these conversations and internet connections. Their poor parents.