WKVT Radio will present a live broadcast of a public forum on the topic of Teen Suicide from 11:00am to 1:00pm on Thursday, June 22 in the Meeting Room at the Brooks Memorial Library.
Members of the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions or share information during the broadcast, which will be moderated by WKVT hosts Peter “Fish” Case and Chris Lenois. Organizations participating in the panel include the Center for Health and Learning, the Brattleboro Retreat, Youth Services, Inc., and the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro.
“A Call to Action” is a free, public event series that takes place on a quarterly basis. The goal is to bring state and local officials together with individuals and organizations to create awareness around critical issues and foster greater collaboration in addressing community needs.
Brattleboro Community Television will be taping the forum to air at a later date on their cable channels as well as archive it online at brattleborotv.org.
“A Call to Action” forums are sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan and Farnum Insulators.
For more information, contact 802-254-2343 or visit www.wkvtradio.com.
WKVT has been part of the Brattleboro media landscape for over 50 years. It currently broadcasts a classic hits music format on 92.7 FM and news/talk on 100.3FM/1490AM, including one of the only daily, morning drive talk-radio programs in the state, Green Mountain Mornings. The station was recently recognized as “ Corporate Citizen of the Year” by the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce for its service to the community
Are there more cases now, with psych meds, than before without?
I have been following a little bit about the teen suicide texting case in
Massachusetts, but I was alarmed about the media reporting that
the girl who texted the 18 year old young man (referred to as a boy)
was just trying to get attention for herself as the grieving girlfriend.
I don’t see any reports of her having a sexual relationship when
she was 17 with the 18 year old young man (referred to as a boy).
I see one report stating he lived 35 miles from her and rarely saw her.
How does the mass media define them as “lovers”?
Is this a fake media idea just to bring attention to the case?
Who really wants attention here?
Why, its the prosecutor and judge who are the ones really wanting
attention, because if she is convicted,
then the case could be listed as a “case cite” in legal
publishings, and that would make the judge and prosecutor
famous in their own ring of circus.
Every lawyers’ and judges’ number one desire in their profession
is to be listed in a “case citation” in a legal publication.
Furthermore, I do not see any reports of the girl being
emotionally abused and emotionally tortured by the 18 year old
young man; who is actually clearly emotionally abusing and torturing her
by telling or texting her (or both) repeatedly that he is going
to, or wants to, commit suicide.
Any psychiatrist with half a brain in their head would tell you
that if someone tells or texts someone else that they are
going to comit suicide, that that causes emotional pain
and emotional distress to the person they are telling this to.
And one more thing! You’ve heard of “flashers”? Guys who
wear an overcoat and they suddenly flash their penis to
girls in a park, something like that. They are exibitionists
who need an audience. The 18 year old young man apparently
goes on and on and on for quite some time about the possibility
of suicide, but he doesn’t do it until he has an audience
on the other end of the phone. He was an exhibitionist
who emotional abused the 17 year old girl.
The judge and prosecutor should be ashamed of themselves
for even hearing this case, and getting all this attention for
themselves.
I was listening to this religious show on talk radio
the other night, and the preacher said there is nothing new
under the sun, that we keep repeating history over and over
again. Well, he was right. The Salem Witch Trials are
back in Massachusetts, with a girl who was 17, at the time,
being accused of manslaughter for texting her boyfriend to
go ahead and commit suicide.
Yep, that’s a witch trial! Why isn’t the maker of the
prescription drugs which the 18 year old man who committed
suicide, was taking, on trial for a lousy product?
There are so many suicides in the news, why don’t we
study the possibility that genetically modified foods are
causing depression?
Oh! Maybe it’s texting that causes
depression! Texting is so un-human in that it distances
people.
And what do teenagers think of this case?
When the media puts suicide bombers in the news,
that just encourages more suicide bombers.
This case is going to continue in Massachusetts
on Monday, and it worries me that kids will think
it is funny, and start texting each other to go jump
off a bridge or something.
Kids will respond
differently to the endless news about this case
than adults. If school shooters and suicide bombers
didn’t get reported in the news, there might be
fewer of them.
http://news.google.com
About 1,120,000 results
The text messages that led up to teen’s suicide
CNN 1 day ago
(CNN) The involuntary manslaughter trial of Michelle Carter, accused of urging her boyfriend Conrad Roy III to commit suicide on July 12, 2014, …Girlfriend’s texts grew darker leading up to Massachusetts teen’s … Fox 59
Teen accused of convincing boyfriend to commit suicide sent me … New York’s PIX11 / WPIX-TV
Troopers: Teenage lovers texted about suicide before death ABC News
Sky News – The Boston Globe
CNN
Her texts pushed him to suicide, prosecutors say. But does that …
Washington Post 3 days ago
The two exchanged hundreds of text messages for several days before … or never’: Texts reveal teen’s efforts to pressure boyfriend into suicide].Texts revealed during trial of young woman accused of encouraging … ABC News
Michelle Carter accused of urging boyfriend to kill himself via text … USA TODAY
Read the texts at the center of the Massachusetts teen suicide case The Boston Globe
CBS Boston / WBZ – NBCNews.com
Assistance or coercion? Intent is key in text message suicide case …
CNN International 3 hours ago
“You need to do it, Conrad,” Carter told Roy in a text message hours before he died, … The texts that led up to teen’s suicide: Read them here.Judge Denies Request to Dismiss Case Against Michelle Carter For … PEOPLE.com
Teen in texting-suicide case researched suicide methods ABC News
Michelle Carter texted beau suicide suggestions Boston Herald
CBS News
‘Just do it babe’: Suicide-encouraging text messages at heart of teen …
Yahoo News 3 days ago
Sitting in his pickup truck one summer day in 2014, Conrad Roy III wavered about his plan to kill himself. He was scared, he texted his girlfriend.
‘Just do it babe’: The suicide-encouraging text messages at the heart …
TheRecord.com 3 days ago
… it babe’: The suicide-encouraging text messages at the heart of a teen … such as Massachusetts, where assisting someone to commit suicide …
Trial begins for teen accused of encouraging 18-year-old to commit …
6abc.com 2 days ago
Trial begins for teen accused of encouraging 18-year-old to commit suicide … suicide in 2014, purportedly documented in thousands of text …
Where was the parents
Where was the parents involvement/intervention or lack there of during his long extended cry for help?, the son was obviously living at home and could have been stabilized.
There is no "obviously" in
There is no “obviously” in depression. Often times people and especially young people become very adept at hiding the signs of depression. It’s how they survive the challenges of every day life. How many times have you heard of or read a story about someone committing suicide and the first thing their friends and family say are ” They seemed so happy” or ” They were in a really good place.” One of the more insidious tenets of depression is that it often becomes impossible to ask for help when you need it most desperately. People who are suicidal often feel like they are letting their family down. In severe depression you reach a point where everything seems hopeless and the act of reaching out is overwhelming.
Many of the signs and symptoms of depression are so subtle and so well hidden that it is often impossible for parents to tell their child is in danger. If you want to throw blame around ( which you obviously do) why not add in the school systems who have these kids inn their reach several hours a day; 5 days a week.
You don’t know what any given situation is and there is no simple fix. It’s really ignorant and callous to assume that if only the parents/teachers/friends were paying attention this tragedy would have been averted. None of us can ever know what burdens and demons another person carries. Easy to look at someone and think they are happy, productive and loving life when, in fact, they are feeling hopeless, unworthy and profoundly sad. There is no one solution to the epidemic of teen suicide or any suicide, for that matter. I’m pretty sure blaming the parents for not recognizing the signs is not a solution.
You have put a fine point
You have put a fine point upon it exactly, it is in fact the parents and the media who followed through court proceedings to place and designate “the blame”, 20 yrs worth, for this young man’s death by internet assisted suicide. This verdict was based solely on the build up and deadly end result contained in a series of persuasive texts that were blatantly careless and used without remorse to help terminate a life. This combined with a lethal dose of recklessly flippant behavior with the ease of the binary push (that most likely would not happened if she were actually present at the scene in person witnessing him go through with it) reveals the degree of immaturity associated with extreme peer pressure and its manipulative power often found on line among teen circles, in this case the caustic exchange and downward spiral of dialogue between girlfriend and boyfriend that eventually lead to both taking drastic measures to end the conversation, their relationship and value of life itself.
In a press conference the father expressed his gratitude for finding closure after the sentencing charge of a manslaughter conviction, as if it represented a sanctimonious and complete explanation for his son’s death. “Obviously” the young girl is just as in need of a “intense sadistic mean girl” psychological evaluation and therapy as the young man was for depression, she will lose what is left of her youth, he his life at his own hand joined with hers in turn attached to her i- phone the deadly link, they might as well as jumped off a bridge together hand in hand as lives sustain ruin.
I'm not sure that a verdict
I’m not sure that a verdict of manslaughter- effectively ending the life of not only the young man who committed suicide but also the young woman who played a large and unforgivable role in that death- should be considered “closure”. Closure of the actual trial, sure, but where is the closure of two lives lost? I’m sure the parents of the boy were looking for a place to lay blame. I get that. I think it’s a quick and visceral fix for unimaginable sorrow and a large degree of guilt.
Both of these kids were desperately in need of help. Although it’s pretty easy to look on the girl as the evil one in this case I see two kids who were both overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness; sadness, anger and confusion. By coming together in a relationship they were able to feed off of each other’s insecurities and darkness. Having most of their relationship take place on line just added to the isolation and let feelings of the power of manipulation on both sides grow to such a destructive level. No winners in this situation. Just two sad, messed up kids and their families who have lost their son and daughter.
"Explaining My Depression to My Mother"
A friend just sent this video to me on Facebook messenger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqu4ezLQEUA
Suicide Fact Sheets
The performer in this video is talented and poetic enough to portray a quite disturbing young person with serious mental illness issues.
Vermont state suicide fact sheet: https://afsp.org/about-suicide/state-fact-sheets/#Vermont
• In Vermont, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 15-34
https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
Additional Facts About Suicide in the US
• The annual age-adjusted suicide rate is 13.26 per 100,000 individuals.
• Men die by suicide 3.5x more often than women.
• On average, there are 121 suicides per day.
• White males accounted for 7 of 10 suicides in 2015.
• Firearms account for almost 50% of all suicides.
• The rate of suicide is highest in middle age — white men in particular.
Suicide Rates by Age
In 2015, the highest suicide rate (19.6) was among adults between 45 and 64 years of age. The second highest rate (19.4) occurred in those 85 years or older. Younger groups have had consistently lower suicide rates than middle-aged and older adults. In 2015, adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 had a suicide rate of 12.5.
Suicide Rates by Race/Ethnicity
In 2015, the highest U.S. suicide rate (20) was among American Indians and Alaska Natives and the second highest rate (17) was among Whites (Figure 5). Much lower and roughly similar rates were found among Hispanics (5.8), Asians and Pacific Islanders (6.4), and Blacks (5.6).
Note that the CDC records Hispanic origin separately from the primary racial or ethnic groups of White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander, since individuals in all of these groups may also be Hispanic.
Suicide Methods
In 2015, firearms were the most common method of death by suicide, accounting for a little less than half (49.8%) of all suicide deaths. The next most common methods were suffocation (including hangings) at 26.8% and poisoning at 15.4%.