Suicide by bullying

[MrDawn]

Do you think the US should hold the bully accountable via manslaughter for the suicide of their victim?

Do you think they are responsible for that person's death?

 

[passenger]

Contributing factor maybe; but, no.

 

[Black Angel]

Yes.

For the same exact reason that people who encourage a suicidal person who jumped off a building have been and could be charged with manslaughter.

If you can't do it in public, then you shouldn't be able to do it in private either, and online it opens a can of worms because the counsequences could be far-reaching.

It could be a serious legal liability for the site owner. This is why I have both a suicide policy on my forum as well as zero-tolerance for bullying as well.

You never know what a person is going through, and you never know the impact your words can have on a person who may be at their lowest moment. That said, it is all the more reason to watch what you say to people. And really it costs nothing to be kind to others.. be it online or not.

Fortunately for me, I know the positive impact that my words have had on others as I have been told by many over the years that I've helped them out of a dark place, by simply being kind to them and treating them like a normal human being.

So while mental illness and depression isn't a choice, being an asshole is, and it is a choice that doesn't have to be made. There is enough hate, pain and misery in the world.. so why add to it?

 

[emily]

at the end of the day, there could be loads of things going on in that person's life so no I don't think so

 

[Ravenfreak]

They should absolutely be held accountable, they played a part in the person taking their own life. Black Angel summed it up pretty well I have to say.

 

[Daltonio]

Yes.
I'd agree that most suicides would have plenty of contributing factors.

But saying they should be held accountable doesn't have to mean locking them up and throwing away the key.

 

[pgn23]

Yes and no.

Various reasons for both.

 

[PGen98]

Having been bullied, harassed by hate groups and generally not well liked in my time...hell yeah, hold them accountable. It can send you right to the edge with how incessant and unpleasant they can be. If someone goes over the edge because of factors like that, then they directly contributed to the death of a human being.

 

[Draconis]

No more so than I think that a death metal band is accountable for someone committing a vicious crime after listening to their music. Or that the show Beavis and Butthead is responsible for some kid burning his house down. These are excuses....

Don't get me wrong, it's a shame that someone feels that is their only choice....

 

[cowcatcher]

I think human interactions are complex. I think bullying a person to the point of suicide could run from 1st degree murder to manslaughter. I don't know the sentencing guidelines for manslaughter, but I believe it's fairly light.
Is harassment a civil offense?
Unfortunately, for a civil lawsuit the plaintiff needs MONEY for a lawyer, but that is a discussion for a different thread.

 

[The Raven]

Well, bullying is a huge problem but we can't just charge somebody with murder for they didn't force anyone to commit suicide. You may have contributed, but you didn't use any weapon or force to achieve so and most importantly, you didn't have intention to see somebody dead. Bullies often are unaware of how that affects their victims. But they should be accountable in some way before this happened.

 

[Reddington]

I'm seeing a lot of comments saying things like "this person had other things going on, the bullying alone wasn't a factor" and "they didn't force anyone to commit suicide."

Both statements are true, but there is a severe lack of understanding for how a bully can play into the decision to kill yourself. If you're depressed, feeling bad about yourself, and suicide is on your mind, someone else saying "you're an ugly piece of shit", "no one loves you", "you should kill yourself", "your family hates you" etc will be the ultimate trigger that results in that person saying "ok, this life ain't worth it."

There are multiple, multiple examples of bullying being either a main factor or one of, but here's a few.

• A video was posted online where a 14 year old girl was walking through the halls of the school with her boyfriend. The video shows kids attacking her. After the incident, she received screenshots and videos of the incident, with nasty comments. She killed herself.
  
• Another 14 year old girl took her life after being bullied for 3 years and nothing was ever done. This started when she was 11. Her mother said at that time when she was 11, she [the mom] started noticing physical signs of bullying and scars and cuts on her daughter's arms.
  
• A 15 year old boy took his life after being bullied, which included being pants'd (pulling down his pants in public).

Of course, bullying happens to adults as well, however, I wanted to specifically point out children because a lot of the children who have killed themselves "didn't have other things going on", they were normal kids trying to find their place in the world. The truth is, bullies deserve manslaughter charges if the victim takes their own life. Nothing anyone ever says will change this. They contributed to the decision which led to a loss of life.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I'm seeing a lot of comments saying things like "this person had other things going on, the bullying alone wasn't a factor" and "they didn't force anyone to commit suicide."

Both statements are true, but there is a severe lack of understanding for how a bully can play into the decision to kill yourself. If you're depressed, feeling bad about yourself, and suicide is on your mind, someone else saying "you're an ugly piece of shit", "no one loves you", "you should kill yourself", "your family hates you" etc will be the ultimate trigger that results in that person saying "ok, this life ain't worth it."

There are multiple, multiple examples of bullying being either a main factor or one of, but here's a few.

• A video was posted online where a 14 year old girl was walking through the halls of the school with her boyfriend. The video shows kids attacking her. After the incident, she received screenshots and videos of the incident, with nasty comments. She killed herself.
• Another 14 year old girl took her life after being bullied for 3 years and nothing was ever done. This started when she was 11. Her mother said at that time when she was 11, she [the mom] started noticing physical signs of bullying and scars and cuts on her daughter's arms.
• A 15 year old boy took his life after being bullied, which included being pants'd (pulling down his pants in public).

Of course, bullying happens to adults as well, however, I wanted to specifically point out children because a lot of the children who have killed themselves "didn't have other things going on", they were normal kids trying to find their place in the world. The truth is, bullies deserve manslaughter charges if the victim takes their own life. Nothing anyone ever says will change this. They contributed to the decision which led to a loss of life.

I also think that those who should have but didn’t investigate the bullying and taken steps to prevent such happening in the future should also be held accountable. e.g. teachers not taking action if victim is a student

 

[Saphira]

I have been a victim of both offline and online bullying, the online part still going on. I would say, the impact is huge, and I'm starting to heal only now that I have created a place of my own where my online bully will not be welcome. She found & followed me on "all sites", even though she's from the US somehow learned my mother tongue to call me out, and most forum administrators/mods look the other way when something like that happens. Some of the evidence is "not from on their site" and since they're careful to not explicitly break site rules - the "I know it's about me but they didn't explicitly mention me by name, but something like 'no man that posted on this page' and yours is the only post from a woman" - they go free.
While I admit I have stuff going on in offline life too, not having a safe place anywhere, not even online, is extremely stressful and hits my "you should even not have been born"-buttons over & over again.

I will not tolerate bullying on my site, and I took great care in not inviting members from other places where I knew they clashed, only inviting one side of any argument. I may not be able to prevent the other side joining under a different name, but I will warn & ban upon these "just below the water" stabs if I see them.

 

[Reddington]

I have been a victim of both offline and online bullying, the online part still going on. I would say, the impact is huge, and I'm starting to heal only now that I have created a place of my own where my online bully will not be welcome. She found & followed me on "all sites", even though she's from the US somehow learned my mother tongue to call me out, and most forum administrators/mods look the other way when something like that happens. Some of the evidence is "not from on their site" and since they're careful to not explicitly break site rules - the "I know it's about me but they didn't explicitly mention me by name, but something like 'no man that posted on this page' and yours is the only post from a woman" - they go free.
While I admit I have stuff going on in offline life too, not having a safe place anywhere, not even online, is extremely stressful and hits my "you should even not have been born"-buttons over & over again.

I will not tolerate bullying on my site, and I took great care in not inviting members from other places where I knew they clashed, only inviting one side of any argument. I may not be able to prevent the other side joining under a different name, but I will warn & ban upon these "just below the water" stabs if I see them.

It really is sad the lengths some people will go to in order to make themselves feel better by being a dick to someone else. I'm sad you also had negative experience with staff members, who should have 100% acted and told the person to knock it off, and/or ban them when the time came. Hopefully you're getting better. ❤

 

[Saphira]

It really is sad the lengths some people will go to in order to make themselves feel better by being a dick to someone else. I'm sad you also had negative experience with staff members, who should have 100% acted and told the person to knock it off, and/or ban them when the time came. Hopefully you're getting better. ❤

I'm doing much better since I created my own place, thank you.

I half/half understand not wanting to immediately ban someone, but yes, I agree mods should have done more on at least one of the places. I think on one of the sites they did but chose her, which, well, an outsider can only see so much so they make a choice and that's it.