Two days ago, the media was abuzz after 22 year-old YouTube star Logan Paul came under fire for posting a video of an apparent suicide victim in Japan’s “suicide forest,” at Aokigahara.
Not only did Logan Paul film the body of the suicide victim, he appeared on video laughing and bragging about it, saying “This definitely marks a moment in YouTube history,” Because I’m pretty sure that this has never hopefully happened to anyone on YouTube ever.” The video was blasted out to over six million of his young YouTube followers.
Paul, has built a digital empire with his onscreen antics that attract more than 5 million views from youths all over the world. According to Forbes Magazine, his antics earn him $12.5 million from advertising spots, merchandise sales and other sources of revenue.
Paul’s suicide video was reprehensible. Showing a video of a suicide victim is not only horrible to view, but it is disrespectful to the families of the deceased and gives kids ideas. He made public apologies but the damage is done.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 to 34 year olds, according to the Center for Disease Control. It was the cause of about 6,078 deaths in a year in the 15 to 24 age group.
Bullied victims are 7 to 9 per cent more likely to consider suicide according to a study by Yale University. Studies in Britain have found half of the suicides among youth related to bullying.
Media reports often link bullying with suicide. Although kids who are bullied are at risk of suicide, bullying alone is not the cause. Many issues contribute to suicide risk, including depression, problems at home, and trauma history. This risk can be increased further when these kids are not supported by parents, peers, and schools.
We don’t know if bullying directly causes suicide-related behavior. What we do know is that the majority of these cluster suicides that are blamed on bullying come from contagion behavior.
Publicity surrounding a suicide has been repeatedly and definitively linked to a subsequent increase in suicide, especially among young people. Research suggests that at least 5 percent of youth suicides are influenced by contagion behavior.
People who kill themselves are already vulnerable, but publicity around another suicide suggests that suicide “outbreaks” and “clusters” are real phenomena; one death can set off others.
It’s tough enough when the media reports child and teen suicides, but when the reports describe what methods were used, it gives kids ideas.
When you’re a kid and you’re being bullied or have mental health issues, the torment can be unbearable. Youths’ brains are not mature enough to understand the gravity and finality of suicide. Youth only know today, never realizing that tomorrow really won’t come.
Recently there was a cluster of youth suicides blamed on bullying. In December, 2017 alone, there were at least five known suicides blamed on bullying. The youngest victim was 8 years-old.
Any publicity involving youth suicides and the methods used creates media buzz. And when you have a social media influencer videotaping a suicide victim, one can only wonder how many kids who are in pain to begin with get ideas.
It behooves all of us, the media and social media influencers to think about the suicides we hear about. Is it necessary to publicize every detail? What about the pain it causes to the family of the suicide victim? There's also a petition signed by 175.000 people YouTube: Delete Logan Paul's YouTube Channel · Change.org Logan paul has gotten away with a lot of stuff. He took it way to far this time.
Logan paul has uploaded a vlog today of him going up to a body in Japan's suicide forest, a body of a hanging man. All he did was blur the deceased man's face out. He got close to the body and told the camera how the skin was "blue" while showing the skin. He then joked about the whole thing and talked about how it was the top 5th crazy thing to have had happen to him this year.
It's not about YOU, Logan Paul. A man who had family and friends chose to end his life, and you chose to share his death to your millions of followers without thinking about how his family/friends felt? It's disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated. But with the power of the internet I think we can get rid of this scumbag once and for all, with your help of signing this petition it could lead to deleting his entire channel!
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