7 teens hang themselves in Welsh town
p2pnet news | P2P:- People living in Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr (Bridgend, in English – Google Earth), a small town in South Wales, are grieving over the deaths of seven teenagers, all avid Net users, who hanged themselves in tragedies harking back to an identical death in America.
There, 13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself in her closet after a fake MySpace member said unkind things about her.
On Wednesday, “Madeleine Moon, the Bridgend MP, urged friends of suicide victims not to go online but to seek professional help, after the death of Tasha Randall, 17 (left), last Thursday, who was the latest teenager in a group of friends to commit suicide,” p2pnet posted, going on:
“Her death has alarmed parents, health authorities and police, who believe that the suicides may be prompted by messages on social networking sites such as Bebo.”
Now, “Last Thursday: Natasha Randall, close friend of earlier victim Liam Clarke, hanged herself in her bedroom,” says the Daily Mail, going on:
Using the tag ’sxiwildchild’, she spent hours on her Bebo webpage
A coroner yesterday launched an investigation into the link between the internet and young suicides – as an MP hit out at websites for “romanticising” teenage death.
Phillip Walters, the coroner for the town of Bridgend where seven young people have hanged themselves in a year, fears the teenage sites such as Bebo play a part in the spate of mystery deaths.
Mr Walter said he is “desperately concerned” about the chain of young suicides – and of the connection to teenage social network sites such as Bebo and MySpace.
The coroner said: “I shall be looking at these networking sites myself to see if there is a link between them and the growing number of youngsters committing suicide. But in the meantime I want to warn youngsters about the possible dangers these websites can pose. “I would also like to warn parents to be actively on the alert for signs of their children being influenced by others on these sites.
Walters has already held hearings into the deaths of young suicides Dale Crole, 18, David Dilling, 19, Thomas Davies, 20, and Zachery Barnes, 17, says the story, continuing:
“He opened inquests on the other three – Liam Clarke, 20, Gareth Morgan, 27, and Natasha Randall, 17 – to await full police investigations into their deaths.”
People who live in Bridgend, “fear the hangings are linked to a chilling internet cult which has become ‘a cool thing to do’ in the town,” says the Daily Mail, adding:
“Four years ago two girls in South Wales arranged a suicide pact after becoming friends via a chatroom.
“Last summer a village in Northern Ireland was devastated by three teenage suicides.
“Rumours of a pact involving up to a dozen students swept Craigavon in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, when two boys hanged themselves after attending the funeral of a third.”
Stay tuned.
Also See:
hanged herself – Megan Meier ‘Net suicide’ case revived, January 9, 2008
p2pnet – Surge of UK ‘online’ teen suicides,, January 23, 2008
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January 25th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
It’s definatley news. And people do kill themselves. I am not going to do it just because some one else did it.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Dude, I gotta ask, why are you so biased when it comes to megan? Stop propagating this bullshit theory that links the Internet and suicide.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Hey Jon, off topic but just wondering if this has made an article yet? If it has not, it should.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22829568/
January 25th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
^^^ http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14687
Cheers!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
oh missed that sorry!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
i don’t think jon is propogating a theory rather than sparking a discussion…after all, kids have committed suicide long before the ‘net. but the ‘net does offer an unprecedented exposure to ideas, not all of them good.
what an awful thing to happen; makes me want to go talk with my kids. wouldn’t have even thought of it if i hadn’t seen the story.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
when i die i want cremation and my ashes spread near my home village
January 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
“Stop propagating this bullshit theory that links the Internet and suicide.”
It’s a report, not propagation. It’s there and it’s happening and hopefully, it’s an aberration.
We’ll see.
For myself, my own daughter, 11, spends a lot of time online. We educate at home and for us, the Net is a vital educational tool. If I seriously thought she was in any kind of danger, I wouldn’t let her near a computer.
In the meanwhile, are you suggesting I shouldn’t report this kind of thing?
Cheers!
January 26th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I see the news reporting about the horrors of myspace or some other social outlet almost, at least it seems, daily as of late. Once someone (read:soccer mom) starts a cause to “protect her kids on the internet” everyone will suffer as a result. This cause mixed with news of it will make it a reality. Our interwebs as we know it will be /phail.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Lets protect all children on the internet, and make the internet so family oriented and restricted, it would be funner to commit suicide then be on the internet
)))
February 7th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
the problem with the internet is anonimity, where in the old days you met with the bully face to face in the playground, you at least
had the oppertunity to stand up for yourself , now anybody can post pictures/and or slanderous allegations about anybody else,
apparently anonamously online ,i have heard of at least one case where a person commited suicide over spurious content posted on line
about them,of course suicides will always happen,but the reasons mostly remain unknown to family and friends , i’m in my mid 30’s and
have lost several friends through suicide ,i cant help thinking that most of the time suicide is caused by an inability or fear to communicate
feelings on behalf of the people involved ,and an inability on everybody else’s behalf to listen ,so remember if somebody needs a friend
always be prepared to listen ,you might save a life.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
How can anyone say the internet isn’t related to the suicide of young teens? Is it denial or plain laziness that you just don’t want to take the time with your children and censor what they do or say on the internet? Just watch the news and see how many teens kill themselves because someone posted slanderous material about them online for all of their friends to see. Not one of us can say we wouldn’t be affected by misinformation displayed for everyone to see. Children are very voulnerable at young ages and are very influenced by the people and happenings around them, of course someone beating them down with words over the internet is going to effect them. Not all suicides are caused by this by any means, but open your paradigms to views much bigger than you. Not only can we stop and help our children deal with bullying, but also stop our own children from doing it to others. It’s just common sense, the world doesn’t have to be cruel, especially to our kids if we can prevent it.