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11-year-old kills himself after texting prank

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Somnid

Member
So yeah that was mean and escalated really quickly.

I guess I'm teaching my kids to verify statements at a young age. Probably good for the climate these days anyway,
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mom-says-social-media-prank-led-to-11-year-old-sons-suicide/
His mom, Katrina Goss, told CBS News on Thursday that her son was “manipulated” and “pranked” by a 13-year-old girl, who is not being identified because she’s a minor.

“She told him she was going to kill herself and used other friends’ social media accounts to put forth further fake proof that she did so,” Goss claims. “He even said he was going to kill himself and she didn’t make any attempt to call me or someone else to try to stop him. [His death] should never have happened.”
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
AFAIK she didn't tell him to kill himself only pretending that she killed herself?

I mean, I understand this whole situation is complex, and again I doubt her intent was the malicious sort (Though hard to say having barely information on her in the story), and I'm not saying for the context of this story her punishment should've been worse or anything (she's still just barely a teen and all that), but like masquerading as someone else to say that you committed suicide to your lover? I can see why this could be such a slippery slope to talk about due to what all it entails, but I think there's a few questionable things of why that's apparently completely a-okay.

EDIT: And with the above information about using friends social media accounts to perpetrate that she had killed herself to him, like I'm just saying that there might bea bit more exploring needed to be done in this, though I will admit I don't have the solution to what that might be.
 

13ruce

Banned
Still I don't think it should be against the law to tell someone to do something and if they do it, it's on you. That completely eliminates personal responsibility.

While i do half agree with you that would give a loophole for crazy manipulative people like for example those cult leaders that made their members commit suicide in the past.

Some people have their problems wich can make them easy targets for such crazy people. That's why i think such manipulative people that misuse those people should get charges because it really would be a big loophole otherwise. It would mean free passes for them because they can just say in court: "well it's not against the law to tell people to do something it's their choice to do it"

Anyway on topic about this case, the girl probably did not want it to end in this sad way, she ment it as a joke probably. Still a crazy joke tho so i agree with people saying she needs some help. 11 is still a pretty child like age so a joke like that can still come in hard.
 

RRockman

Banned
The kid was 11. Kids are still learning to cope with basic life skills let alone a relationship.

This is one of the things that's been bugging me about this story too. 11 is waaaaay to young to even be considering relationships other than regular friends, parents, and annoying teachers. Why was he allowed to have a girlfriend?

I should clarify that I'm not defending that foolish child who thought this so called "prank" was a good idea but wouldn't having a talk about this sort of thing and when it's OK to engage in it prevent this kind of scenario?
 

kvothe

Member
I mean, I understand this whole situation is complex, and again I doubt her intent was the malicious sort (Though hard to say having barely information on her in the story), and I'm not saying for the context of this story her punishment should've been worse or anything, but like masquerading as someone else to say that you committed suicide to your lover? I can see why this could be such a slippery slope to talk about due to what all it entails, but I think there's a few questionable things of why that's apparently completely a-okay.

No one is saying it's "a-okay." But there's a difference between moral and legal issues.
 

Zoe

Member
This is one of the things that's been bugging me about this story too. 11 is waaaaay to young to even be considering relationships other than regular friends, parents, and annoying teachers. Why was he allowed to have a girlfriend?

He wasn't. His mother mentioned that in the article in the OP. She didn't let him have a phone either.
 
I thought the whole point of Romeo & Juliet was to teach kids that suicide pranks are a bad idea. Are they too young at 11 for Shakespeare?
 

LionPride

Banned
This is one of the things that's been bugging me about this story too. 11 is waaaaay to young to even be considering relationships other than regular friends, parents, and annoying teachers. Why was he allowed to have a girlfriend?

I should clarify that I'm not defending that foolish child who thought this so called "prank" was a good idea but wouldn't having a talk about this sort of thing and when it's OK to engage in it prevent this kind of scenario?
Bruh kids have "girlfriends" in elementary school
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller

Oh dear, this bit of info does paint her intents as more malicious than the original story. I edited my post above, but with him saying to her he was going to kill himself before the act and her doing nothing about it I think there's more fault on her hands in this whole issue now. She probably didn't think he was actually going to do it, but this and her pretending to be other people by using her friends social media accounts to make him believe it is going a bit far.
 

Zoe

Member
I thought the whole point of Romeo & Juliet was to teach kids that suicide pranks are a bad idea. Are they too young at 11 for Shakespeare?

We read the play and watched the movie version (
complete with boobies
) in 8th grade.
 
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone thinks that needs to change.

Are we really aiming to send people to prison for assisted sodomy or something when they tell someone to go fuck themselves?

There seems to be an attitude these days that words hold some kind of extra power that they dont actually have.
 

RRockman

Banned
He wasn't. His mother mentioned that in the article in the OP. She didn't let him have a phone either.

Whoops, somehow missed that part. Sorry.

That's terrible, I'm not even sure how I would go about ending it other than banning my kid from any sort of technology. Now I'm angry at the girls familiy members, who KNEW there was an issue and did nothing.

I hate stories like this.
 

kvothe

Member
This is one of the things that's been bugging me about this story too. 11 is waaaaay to young to even be considering relationships other than regular friends, parents, and annoying teachers. Why was he allowed to have a girlfriend?

I should clarify that I'm not defending that foolish child who thought this so called "prank" was a good idea but wouldn't having a talk about this sort of thing and when it's OK to engage in it prevent this kind of scenario?

In terms of "allowing" him to have a girlfriend: There are many issues parents don't know about and no, that doesn't that make them bad parents. I had many girlfriends around that age and my parents had no clue.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
In terms of "allowing" him to have a girlfriend: There are many issues parents don't know about and no, that doesn't that make them bad parents. I had many girlfriends around that age and my parents had no clue.

I don't think it makes them bad parents, but there's some things that aren't adding up here unless there was more going on in the home life. Again, lack of info given publicly so it's hard to say exactly, but there is a very presentable element that the boy probably had issues he wasn't talking about with his parents, the parent mostly shares that she was restrictive of what she approved her son to do (which isn't bad, parents need to set rules and guidelines, but you can overtly do so), and things like how he bought a phone for himself at 11 without her knowing is incredibly strange for a number of reasons.
 

Wereroku

Member
I mean, I understand this whole situation is complex, and again I doubt her intent was the malicious sort (Though hard to say having barely information on her in the story), and I'm not saying for the context of this story her punishment should've been worse or anything (she's still just barely a teen and all that), but like masquerading as someone else to say that you committed suicide to your lover? I can see why this could be such a slippery slope to talk about due to what all it entails, but I think there's a few questionable things of why that's apparently completely a-okay.

EDIT: And with the above information about using friends social media accounts to perpetrate that she had killed herself to him, like I'm just saying that there might bea bit more exploring needed to be done in this, though I will admit I don't have the solution to what that might be.

Yeah but that doesn't really give any clue into her motive for doing it. From the evidence we have she convinced him she was dead but never told him to do the same. The only thing that I could see being a problem is that he said he would kill himself and they didn't report it. However how much do you believe an 11 year old if they threaten to kill themself. Blah this is a bad situation all around but trying to make the 13 year old girl out to be some villain from what we have seems a bit wrong as well. She is only 2 years older and still just as immature.

Whoops, somehow missed that part. Sorry.

That's terrible, I'm not even sure how I would go about ending it other than banning my kid from any sort of technology. Now I'm angry at the girls familiy members, who KNEW there was an issue and did nothing.

I hate stories like this.

What's the issue though. Letting them say they are girlfriend and boyfriend? If that was all I can see why her family would think his mom was being extreme as well. We don't know how their relationship was but I could understand how her family might see it as harmless.
 
Heard about this story, so tragic that his life has ended so young.

This is one of the things that's been bugging me about this story too. 11 is waaaaay to young to even be considering relationships other than regular friends, parents, and annoying teachers. Why was he allowed to have a girlfriend?

I should clarify that I'm not defending that foolish child who thought this so called "prank" was a good idea but wouldn't having a talk about this sort of thing and when it's OK to engage in it prevent this kind of scenario?

It's not uncommon for kids that young to have boyfriends/girlfriends.
 

kvothe

Member
I don't think it makes them bad parents, but there's some things that aren't adding up here unless there was more going on in the home life.

Maybe you just had a relatively easy adolescence. There were many times around that age that I contemplated suicide even though my life was really not too terrible in retrospect. But at such a young age, seemingly benign things like break ups or fights can feel like literally the end of the world. It's hard to see the big picture at that age.
 
Hrm, not sure where I got it mixed up... yikes.

edit: oh it was this quote: "The person sending the message purported to be a different person," Wiese said.

At least she apparently didn't try to make the deceased believe she was texting from beyond.

There must have been something wrong with the kid already if that sent him over the edge. An 11-year-old doesn't just hang himself because of a message like that.

Do you have, well, any statistical data on 11 year olds reacting to messages about their close friends committing suicide?
 
A 11 year old boy dating a 13 year old girl... so a 6th grader dating a 8th grader? The age gap and maturity difference is immense.

Possibly a 5th grader "dating" a 7th grader. But at that age it's irrelevant to apply such labels in any real way. The tragedy is they didn't know what they were doing as at that age.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Maybe you just had a relatively easy adolescence. There were many times around that age that I contemplated suicide even though my life was really not too terrible in retrospect. But at such a young age, seemingly benign things like break ups or fights can feel like literally the end of the world. It's hard to see the big picture at that age.

I don't mean to get too personal here, but I had a friend who died when I was in 2nd grade, my dad's punishments included whipping me with a belt until I could literally not sit down because my butt was bruised purple making it hurt to sit in class or locking me in a basement for a day without food, one of my closest childhood friends had a literally sociopathic mother (who would drug guys at bars to bring them home) who I met and was a cruel woman which put my fiend in and out of custody which eventually lead to her running away from home and me never seeing her again, in fourth grade my aunt used a ploy that landed my dad in jail and separate me and my siblings from my mother as she removed us from the schooling system as our new guardians and I never got to say bye to my friends as but was so sudden for me and the next three months were spent living on a farm doing farm work I wasn't accustomed to with no one I knew while she tried to raise us strictly as catholic kids, with one of my most vivid memories from that time being my brother breaking something but he wouldn't admit it so she made me and my two siblings having to clear a whole acre of yard of leaves in autumn with nothing but toy shovels and a rake while it was raining all day and none of us were allowed to come inside until the sun set and none were allowed for supper (her favorite punishment was no supper), during the three months all we were given were chores and Lincoln logs to do at home or learning how to praise Jesus, before eventually my dad got out through my grandmother bailing him out but even then he didn't regain custody for a few months so I had to live with family friends in a trailer park for a period of my life. And that's before some more serious shit went down in my life in the middle school and highschool years.

All the above is true, try not to read too much into my stance from my experience for your argument, suicidal thoughts can cross anyone and 11 is a fragile age, but I do think stepping over the line has implications.
 

Wereroku

Member
I feel like I've heard a story similar to this but the person was charged and convicted if I'm not mistaken.

If it is the same one I was thinking of they had extensive texts from the GF goading him into suicide multiple times going as far as sending advice on how to do it and calling him names for not going through with it. She then basked in the services after he went through with it. The facts of this case are pretty different from what we know.
 
Obviously a terribly sad situation and a horrendous thing for that girl to do, but if she didn't actually encourage him to commit suicide over it, I really don't see any cause for charging her with anything serious. But someone seriously needs to intervene to make sure she gets mental and emotional counseling. That's pretty fucked up, even for a 13-year-old.
 

Kadin

Member
If it is the same one I was thinking of they had extensive texts from the GF goading him into suicide multiple times going as far as sending advice on how to do it and calling him names for not going through with it. She then basked in the services after he went through with it. The facts of this case are pretty different from what we know.
I'd like to read more about this specifically. How exactly did she act during the services? This is just unreal to think about.
 
Pranks and bullying are too easily forgiven in this country.


Because it's not just that this poor kid killed himself as a result of the prank. The NEXT kid that gets pranked or bullied might decide to shoot up a whole classroom before killing himself.
 

Cyframe

Member
I don't know if she should be facing something like manslaughter charges, but she needs to have mandatory counseling and something like a 20 year ban of internet access, and communications through texting.

Cases like this come up from time to time and very rarely anyone is held accountable.

I just feel bad for anyone so young dying.
 

kvothe

Member
I don't mean to get too personal here, but I had a friend who died when I was in 2nd grade, my dad's punishments included whipping me with a belt until I could literally not sit down because my butt was bruised purple making it hurt to sit in class or locking me in a basement for a day without food, one of my closest childhood friends had a literally sociopathic mother (who would drug guys at bars to bring them home) who I met and was a cruel woman which put my fiend in and out of custody which eventually lead to her running away from home and me never seeing her again, in fourth grade my aunt used a ploy that landed my dad in jail and separate me and my siblings from my mother as she removed us from the schooling system as our new guardians and I never got to say bye to my friends as but was so sudden for me and the next three months were spent living on a farm doing farm work I wasn't accustomed to with no one I knew while she tried to raise us strictly as catholic kids, with one of my most vivid memories from that time being my brother breaking something but he wouldn't admit it so she made me and my two siblings having to clear a whole acre of yard of leaves in autumn while it was raining all day and none of us were allowed for supper, during the three months all we were given were chores and Lincoln logs, before eventually my dad got out through my grandmother bailing him out but even then he didn't regain custody for a few months so I had to live with family friends in a trailer park for a period of my life. And that's before some more serious shit went down in my life in the middle school and highschool years.

All the above is true, try not to read too much into my stance from my experience for your argument, suicidal thoughts can cross anyone and 11 is a fragile age, but I do think stepping over the line has implications.

Okay, you certainly didn't have an easy life and sorry for implying you might've. At the same time, do you think it's possible that your harder upbringing may have strengthened your resolve a little more than people who didn't undergo the same?

I know nothing about this kid's life, but maybe this was his first big life trauma. And it's a pretty rough one at that. And while there are plenty of kids that wouldn't follow through with the actual suicide, I don't think that the fact that he did should open the door to a big conspiracy about "what else was going on in that house?!"
 

stupei

Member
There seems to be an attitude these days that words hold some kind of extra power that they dont actually have.

Perhaps not the right thread to take this kind of stand, given that a child killed himself because of words. And this isn't even the first time an internet hoax has resulted in suicide.

While the minor in this case might not understand the weight and consequence of their actions, an adult certainly should be held responsible for what they say to children, even on the internet.
 
I'm getting tired of really fucked up shit getting labeled as pranks. That wasn't a prank. Pranks are funny and harmless. This was emotional abuse that lead to suicide...
 

oti

Banned
I'm wondering how on earth those kids even came up with this somewhat plan in the first place. "Let's pretend I killed myself" doesn't strike me as something 13-year-olds would do. Is it because "kill yourself" is so often seen on social media?
 

Kadin

Member
Here you go. This girl was pretty terrible and probably a mental disorder like Munchhausen's.
This is bizarre. According to this article she apparently organized a softball tournament to raise money for mental illness and wrote “life can be tough, but helping others makes it easier” along with saying how much she missed him and posting suicide prevention hotline info. That's either a LOT of remorse after the fact or a big attempt to try and prove she's not who she knows she is. Crazy story, thanks for sharing.
 

Wereroku

Member
Okay, you certainly didn't have an easy life and sorry for implying you might've. At the same time, do you think it's possible that your harder upbringing may have strengthened your resolve a little more than people who didn't undergo the same?

I know nothing about this kid's life, but maybe this was his first big life trauma. And it's a pretty rough one at that. And while there are plenty of kids that wouldn't follow through with the actual suicide, I don't think that the fact that he did should open the door to a big conspiracy about "what else was going on in that house?!"

Right we don't know either of their circumstances putting everything on the girl and wanting additional charges seem a extreme as well.

I'm wondering how on earth those kids even came up with this somewhat plan in the first place. "Let's pretend I killed myself" doesn't strike me as something 13-year-olds would do. Is it because "kill yourself" is so often seen on social media?

If I had to guess from my own experience this seems more like a stupid breakup plan then a malicious prank. I got so many weird breakups around that age.

This is bizarre. According to this article she apparently organized a softball tournament to raise money for mental illness and wrote ”life can be tough, but helping others makes it easier" along with saying how much she missed him and posting suicide prevention hotline info. That's either a LOT of remorse after the fact or a big attempt to try and prove she's not who she knows she is. Crazy story, thanks for sharing.

Oh yeah that case is so bizarre and sinister. She planned his suicide for him.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
This is bizarre. According to this article she apparently organized a softball tournament to raise money for mental illness and wrote “life can be tough, but helping others makes it easier” along with saying how much she missed him and posting suicide prevention hotline info. That's either a LOT of remorse after the fact or a big attempt to try and prove she's not who she knows she is. Crazy story, thanks for sharing.

She might an actual socio/psychopath if she is this manipulative and deceptive and has such little concern for human life.
 

Duderz

Banned
I remember when I was in school a kid I knew managed to get his sister to call me and tell me that he had committed suicide. I was just shocked and didn't know what to say, so I just prayed out loud for her brother.

Her brother immediately takes the phone, yells "psyche!" and proceeds to tell me how good he got me. I didn't know at all how to react.

I lost touch with him, but one summer when I came home from college, I found out he killed himself over a breakup.

Long story short. I'm not sure how to summarize that.
 
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