I was on that "Stop Sanctioned Suicide" Facebook group again yesterday. All those mothers writing "my poor kid, these monsters killed him" denying that they should have cared for their kid! They should have noticed their beloved kid is depressed. But they didn't. And they don't want to hear the truth and now they need a scape goat. That is us. We are at fault for 20+ years of bad parenting.
On the one hand, I don't like to trample on their grief. But, you do have to wonder. Did they put this much time, attention and love towards their child while they were alive? I don't know. Maybe that is unfair. Maybe they were incredible parents. Mine weren't bad and I don't think they realised I developed ideation from age 10.
What I
do wish though- is that- rather than spending all their time bashing this forum, they would use it constructively to raise awareness with other parents. If your children are coming here- WHY do you suppose that is? If you can't be bothered to question why they are so troubled and do something about it then, take the easier option- provide them another safe space to be able to talk about their problems honestly and openly without fear of being ridiculed, ignored or sectioned. Just don't provide method information there. That would be fantastic though. You could make it as pro-life as you wanted but for God's sake-
listen to your children!
I'd argue that it's
more than just method information people come here for. It's the support side to it as well. People come and
stay here because they clearly can't find that kind of support elsewhere. And it
isn't about coaxing them to CTB. It's actually listening to them and taking their problems seriously and compassionately. Why aren't there more spaces like that?
Especially for young people? I wish they'd put their energy into doing something about that.
I'll be brutally honest... I feel bad for your children- of course. I was a suicidal minor myself. But, speaking very selfishly-
I don't want to see your children here! It puts the whole forum and those who participate in it at risk. Far from gleefully pushing children towards suicide, I'd hazard a guess that most of the older users here don't want to see them here at all. Why would we want angry parents coming after us?
As to the existence of the site itself and the 'threat' it poses-
especially to minors. Would you give up things you feel you are entitled to- alcohol, smoking, porn, sex because minors lie about their age to gain access to those things? No- I doubt you would. The
adults on this site happen to believe we have autonomy over our own lives. We believe we should have the right to choose to end our lives if we are finding them intolerable.
Seeing as most of our governments disagree with that right- or, limit it as far as possible by not providing VAD and restricting methods, we feel the need to research these things so that we don't botch an attempt and make life so much worse for ourselves.
A huge amount of people also rely on this site to keep them alive! It provides enormous emotional support for a lot of it's members. (Including me.) I wish someone would actually pick up on that and recognise it as something this world sorely lacks. Just look at the amount of posts that say this place is unique in how (mostly) open it is to share and talk about problems. Why can't people do this elsewhere?
