Pay attention kids!
Is it just me or was everyone seriously disturbed to see the front page of the Sunshine Coast Daily today?
Suzanne Bournes is grieving the loss of her 23 year old son Bradley.
Earlier this month, 23 year old Bradley hanged himself from a tree in Ben Bennett Park, Caloundra.
It’s known that a group of high school students found his body on their way to school. Bradley had tied a note to his family around his neck.
It’s also now known that sometime before Bradley was taken down from the tree, someone took a photo of him. That gruesome photo has made its way to a hideous website, dedicated to death and mutilation.
Bradley’s mother Suzanne is devastated. That’s her baby in that photo.
The internet is new ground for humans isn’t it? You can get away with just about anything on the net. The police have admitted that while they are investigating the publication of the photo of Bradley – and make no mistake, it is illegal for people to use technology to transfer this type of information – this particular website is international and it’s origin is very hard to trace.
Millions of people are on the internet every day. Most of them use that privilege for good. And I mean it. Surely 98 per cent of people are just happy to exchange useful information, access the world and meet new people. The other two per cent need to take a good hard look at them selves.
My son is constantly on my space, I think most teenagers are. But I don’t know much about it. I honestly don’t have the patience to find stuff on it to be honest, whenever I look over his shoulder it looks pretty mundane, but all the same, he and I need to have a talk.
The internet might feel like TV. As parents, my generation, who have let our kids watch a lot of TV, most of it pretty abysmal, might have to accept responsibility for how desensitised some young people appear to be about what death and grief really means. But even if it is our fault, it’s time for young people to pay attention.
Bradley Bournes was a real person.
Something terrible drove him to take his own life. That is not sport and it is not entertainment.
The Stand By Suicide Bereavement Service 5442 4277
For kids, try www.reachout.com.au
Suzanne Bournes is grieving the loss of her 23 year old son Bradley.
Earlier this month, 23 year old Bradley hanged himself from a tree in Ben Bennett Park, Caloundra.
It’s known that a group of high school students found his body on their way to school. Bradley had tied a note to his family around his neck.
It’s also now known that sometime before Bradley was taken down from the tree, someone took a photo of him. That gruesome photo has made its way to a hideous website, dedicated to death and mutilation.
Bradley’s mother Suzanne is devastated. That’s her baby in that photo.
The internet is new ground for humans isn’t it? You can get away with just about anything on the net. The police have admitted that while they are investigating the publication of the photo of Bradley – and make no mistake, it is illegal for people to use technology to transfer this type of information – this particular website is international and it’s origin is very hard to trace.
Millions of people are on the internet every day. Most of them use that privilege for good. And I mean it. Surely 98 per cent of people are just happy to exchange useful information, access the world and meet new people. The other two per cent need to take a good hard look at them selves.
My son is constantly on my space, I think most teenagers are. But I don’t know much about it. I honestly don’t have the patience to find stuff on it to be honest, whenever I look over his shoulder it looks pretty mundane, but all the same, he and I need to have a talk.
The internet might feel like TV. As parents, my generation, who have let our kids watch a lot of TV, most of it pretty abysmal, might have to accept responsibility for how desensitised some young people appear to be about what death and grief really means. But even if it is our fault, it’s time for young people to pay attention.
Bradley Bournes was a real person.
Something terrible drove him to take his own life. That is not sport and it is not entertainment.
The Stand By Suicide Bereavement Service 5442 4277
For kids, try www.reachout.com.au
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