Who is to blame when teenagers commit suicide with help of the internet?

Thousands of teenagers commit suicide each year and many people wonder who is to blame when these distressing events take place. For this blog entry I will discuss a hypothetical situation about a first-year medical student in California who posted in her personal blog explicit directions how to carry out an assisted suicide. The problem arose when a teenager who was being treated for depression read her post and ended her life with an overdose of drugs. Her family found a note that she left behind for them and it stated that she was able to end her life with the help of the blogger who described the process.

First, I will like to state my opinion that is it unethical for people to post such harmful information on the internet. I believe it is also illegal since there are a number of laws that have been passed to help reduce the rising suicide rates among teenagers. This blog entry can be considered something that provides information aiding people to commit suicide. Not only is this information available to anyone since it is posted on the internet, but it can be accessed by younger children who are not able to reason and make educated decisions yet. Even though the blogger intended to provide this information to help adults, she is still making an unethical and illegal mistake. Her information is allowing for people to take their life which makes her responsible for the death as well. If these people had not read the information, they could have been treated and still be alive. The blogger is also responsible for the damage and pain to the family and friends of the deceased.

In my opinion the person responsible for this tragedy is the medical student who posted the information on her blog. First of all, the teenager herself could not be responsible because when people suffer from depression they have a health problem which keeps them from making knowledgeable decisions many times. As Julie Thomerson stated, “Suicide is ultimately a mental health problem, but there are triggers and contributing factors that lead young people to turn to suicide as a solution, rather than dealing with their problems in healthier ways”. The weblog content provider is also responsible because they should have some kind of software that allows them to detect when people are posting harmful information. The parents should not be prosecuted because they were doing their part by making sure that their teenage daughter was getting treated for depression. I am unsure whether they were monitoring their daughter carefully, but all of this could have been prevented if the medical student hadn’t posted the information on her blog. I understand that when teenagers suffering from depression show any sign that they might commit suicide, parents must monitor them at all times. It is impossible for a parent to be watching their teenage daughter every second of the day and that is why I believe they should not be prosecuted.

Thomerson, Julie. "Violent Acts of Sadness: The Tragedy of Youth Suicide." State Legislatures 28.5 (2002): 30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.