Young Suicides

While travelling into work the other day I was listening to the Gerry Ryan Show. A lady came on air talking about how her young son had hung himself in sheer temper because she had taken him out of the pub. She was saying that she knew for a fact that he didn't mean to hang himself, that in his own mind he was thinking "that will show you mammy for embarrassing me in front of my friends" and in reality she maintained that he didn't actually realise in his own head the actual consequences of committing suicide. He didn't realise that he would never get to hear her say " Oh I'm so sorry for embarrassing you I'll never do it again" because he KILLED himself, there is no coming back, there are no more nights out with his friends , no more girlfriends , no more holidays, no more laughter. The point she was making was in relation to the funerals of the two young students who committed suicide recently. She feared that due to the massive publicity they got and the elaborate funerals they received with everyone saying such lovely things about them and thousands of people attending the funeral, their favourite songs being played and the school closing for the duration of the mass actually made hero's out of them especially to their peers. Does shutting school's and allowing students to have their day in mourning when a student commits suicide send out the right message. I don't think it does . The lady made the point that maybe if students weren't allowed to go to the funeral and had to go to class instead they might realise that there is nothing heroic about it and at the end of the day normal life still has to go on and the person who is gone is gone forever not just for the day. I totally agree with her, do these kids actually know, I mean really understand what suicide means? Do they understand when the funeral is over and their friends go back to school that they cant join them because they are gone forever, they ended the life they had now and any life they could have had. In my opinion instead of letting the children go to the funeral they should say a prayer for the deceased and continue on with their work so as not to glorify the act. I also think schools should be more pro active when it comes to teaching young kids what it actually means to take your own life , that it is not an answer and that there is no coming back from it. Possibly schools should introduce counselling services or put up websites that deal with the topic of depression or suicide such as suicidal.com. This may help when students feel like there is no one they can talk to. Either way we as a society need to act on this spree of young children taking their own lives and it is up to each and everyone of us to take an interest in our children and explain to them what suicide actually means for them.

Virtual Communities

Virtual communities, are they just a place where sad people go who don't have the confidence to go out into the real world? or are the real world socialisers completely missing out on this phenomenon?. Take first life for example
first life. The whole idea of this just baffles me to be honest. Is the idea of socialising not that it allows you to get out of the house and meet with real life human beings? Now I know technically the lovers of first life will counteract that you are actually meeting people, just not face to face. I personally want to be able to see the person I am talking to, I want to see their facial expressions when I'm talking to them. Not an icon of what someone has created themselves to be. In first life the person may have created themselves to be a six foot hunk with rugged good looks and a body to die for. When in reality they may be a five foot nothing, overweight and balding middle aged man. What happens if you really build up a good rapport with someone in first life and decide to meet up in reality. You may be totally expecting the man of your dreams thanks to the picture you have built up in your mind and then the reality of it all bursts your bubble completely. Yes I hear what your thinking , you think I'm completely shallow and that looks aren't everything. I firmly believe that for a relationship to work you have to actually fancy your partner. What is the point in having someone who "makes you laugh" if your too embarrassed to be seen in public with them?. Furthermore when I go out I want to go to an actual pub and feel the atmosphere of people enjoying themselves, I want to hear the beat of the music,I want to smell the beer and the vodka and see the animated faces of everybody I meet and talk to while we have a conversation. First life is definitely not for me. Whereas I understand something like the Harley Davidson on line community Harley Davidson. Now that is something I would be interested in, not specifically Harley Davidson's but something along the same lines. These are people who are truly interested in the subject. They are people who want to meet other people to discuss the thing they love the most. I agree it is a good way of finding out what's happening in the world of Harley when otherwise they may be not be able to contact other people about the same subject as there are not too many people who own a Harley in every locality.Speaking of which check out this cool video. I think listening to that video gives us a taste of what it would be like to own and drive a Harley. So to end my blog on virtual communities, the brand ones such as Harley Davidson and Bebo I totally get it, people all over the world meeting up and having a chat about something they love, all while getting out and doing normal things in real life. Socialising in Virtual pubs! it's just not for me.