Florida Teen College Student Online Suicide - No Joke, No Fake

Posts on "Apathetic Lemming of the North" are generally more up-beat than this.

"Teen Commits Suicide Live on Web; the Aftermath"
Associated Content (November 22, 2008)

"Controversy continues today over the death of Abraham Biggs, 19, the Florida teen who committed suicide live on the web. According to news reports, Biggs suffered from bipolar disorder and was taking medication..."

"...Before bloggers called police, one had tried to alert a site moderator and received a dismissive reply referring to Biggs as 'an attention whore.'

"Abraham Biggs' unfortunate public suicide raises questions that the public will undoubtedly be grappling with in the months to come:

"Limits on Internet Streaming of Live Videos?

"According to Associated Press, Abraham Biggs' death prompted his father Abraham Biggs, Sr. to question the propriety of Justin.tv streaming the suicide live.

"Should there be limits on what internet providers are allowed to show live?..."

Son, Brother, College Student Kills Himself: the Personal Side

Abraham Biggs' death - and the way he died - obviously hurts his family. They'll be grieving the loss for years. It's possible that a few individuals in the crowd that watched him die may feel slight discomfort now and again. Quite a number of people who never knew Abraham Biggs are upset, myself included.

The Blame Game

It's too early to tell which way this will go, but I'm pretty sure that the usual suspects will be blamed for Abraham Biggs' death, including:

• His parents, who didn't see this coming
• His online audience, who watched it happen
• The site moderator, who called him "an attention whore"
• The doctor who prescribed at least one of the drugs he used
• His neighbors in the building
• His landlord
• The college he attended
• The pharmaceutical industry, that manufactured the drugs he used
• Owners of the companies that run the online services he used
• Congress, that should have passed a law
• The FCC, that should have had a regulation
• And, that old favorite, Society

Some might even suggest that Mr. Biggs bore some responsibility for his own death: given that he declared his intention to kill himself, and then took the pills that ended his life.

I realize how harsh and judgmental that sounds.

But although a nineteen-year-old is a teenager, Mr. Biggs was, in many respects, also a man. And, a college student. I think the possibility that he had something to say about his own actions may be considered. I also realize that he was being treated with benzodiazepine, to deal with a bipolar disorder. That may, or may not, have had something to do with his decision.

Another Online Suicide! There Oughta be a Law!

A BBC article on Abraham Biggs' death end with "...his father is now calling for more regulation of chatrooms." I believe I understand a little about what Abraham's father is feeling. 'Children aren't supposed to die before their parents.'

But I'm not sure that another layer of regulations is a good response: at least, not in America, where I live. Granted, quite a few European nations have a duty to rescue law. But then, Americans are more likely to rescue someone than not, by about 740-to-1. (I'm a little surprised, too: but that's the ratio.)

American legislators eventually passed "good Samaritan" laws ¹, that made it possible for people to help someone in need, without getting sued for everything they had. There's even a push now, to allow corporations to help people without getting sued. (My opinion: a radical idea, but one worth considering.)

Unhelpful Responses to Suicide Attempts: Nothing New Here

When I was young, decades ago, we didn't have the Internet, but once in a while someone exit a building from well above street level. People around my age will remember how one song put it: "High upon a lonely ledge, a figure teeters near the edge, And jeering crowds collect below, To egg him on with, 'Go, man, go!'..." ("Who Will Answer?")

People haven't changed all that much.

• Some people kill themselves
• Others still egg them on with "Go, man, go!"
• Many, I think, will help if they've got the chance

There Oughta be a Law - or Maybe Common Sense

I think the most fixable element in what happened between the time that Abraham Biggs posted his intent to kill himself, and the time he died, is how the site moderator reacted to an alert.

I've done customer service, and tech support. I know how some individuals earn a reputation: good or bad. And, I think I understand how tempting it is to write off one more suicide threat.

That said, the moderator's response, calling the deceased "an attention whore", was over the top. Unacceptable.

We may wind up with the chatroom regulations that Mr. Biggs' father wants.

Or, the site maintenance industry may go the route that the comics industry did, back in the 1950s. Faced with an American Congress eager to 'do something' about comics, the American comics industry parried federal regulation with the 'comics code.' Whatever you think of that bit of self-censorship, I'd argue that the results were better than what would have happened if Congress and some federal agency had started 'protecting' Americans from comic book characters.

Maybe its Time for Common Sense on the Internet

I hope that whoever refused to react to a suicide threat heads-up is encouraged to reconsider his or her habits and assumptions.

Suicide threats can be tiresome. Particularly when a person makes them several times. But, in my opinion, they should be taken seriously.

As for regulations on chat rooms and live video feeds: I think this is one of those ideas that look good, and don't work out quite as planned.

I'll admit that I'm biased: I've got a webcam that shows a street corner, with a new image every minute. I'd hate to have to fill out forms and deal with bureaucrats the next time I set one up - or be required to defend what I've got. That may sound silly, but my guess is that most people reading this remembers how, ah, concerned some non-web-proficient person got after hearing the word "blog" or "webcam."

Enough! Time to Stop Writing!

This post has been growing by fits and starts for about 24 hours now. Time to wrap it up.

Bottom line:

• Abraham Bigg's suicide was
  • Tragic
  • Preventable
• More regulations aren't, in my opinion, a good idea
  • "Censorship" is such a harsh word - but right now there's freedom of speech on the Internet - and I'd like to keep it that way
• Encouraging grown-up behavior by site moderators is, in my opinion, a good idea
  • That encouragement might be most effective, if it came from their employers

Webcam Suicide in the News: Excerpts

I've put some phrases in bold.

• "Cyber suicide"
  globeandmail.com (November 22, 2008)
  • "...Sadly, Mr. Biggs is not the first person to broadcast his suicidal intentions online, or the only person to carry through with the threat.
  • "Investigator Wendy Crane told reporters she knows of at least one other case in which a South Florida man shot himself in the head in front of an online audience...."
• "Family shock at Florida web death"
  BBC (November 22, 2008)
  • "The family of a US teenager who killed himself live online via a webcam have spoken of their regret at how no-one stopped the unfolding suicide.
  • "Abraham Biggs, 19, from Pembroke Pines, near Miami, killed himself hours after announcing his plan on his blog.
  • "His father said it was "unimaginable" that neither the website's operators nor any viewers alerted the police.
  • "Biggs took an overdose of anti-depressive drugs, but remained comatose online for hours before he died...."
• "Family Outraged, Distraught Over Florida Teen's Webcam Suicide"
  FOXNews (November 22, 2008)
  • "MIAMI — The family of a college student who killed himself in front of an Internet audience say they're horrified his life ended before virtual spectators and infuriated that viewers and Web site operators didn't act sooner to save him...."
  • "...A computer user who claimed to have watched said that after swallowing some pills, Biggs went to sleep and appeared to be breathing for a few hours while others cracked jokes...."
  • "...As police entered the room, the audience's reaction was filled with Internet shorthand: 'OMFG,' one wrote, meaning 'Oh, my God.' [a bowdlerized translation] Others, either not knowing what they were seeing, or not caring, wrote 'lol,' which means 'laughing out loud,' and 'hahahah.'..."
• "Florida teen commits suicide in front of webcam"
  Associated Press (November 21, 2008)
  • "MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida teen died of a lethal drug overdose in front of a live online webcam audience 12 hours after he started blogging about his plan to commit suicide, an investigator said Friday.
  • "Abraham Biggs, 19, died Wednesday from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression,....
  • "Some of those watching encouraged Biggs, others tried to talk him out of it, and a few were debating whether the dose he took was lethal, [Broward County medical investigator Wendy] Crane said. It's unclear how many people were watching.
  • "Biggs stated his intentions on a forum at bodybuilding.com, where some users said they did not take him seriously because he had made previous statements about killing himself, Crane said. Biggs posted a link from there to Justin.tv, a site that allows users to broadcast live videos from their webcams.
  • "Someone finally notified the moderator of the body building site's forum, who traced the teen's location to Pembroke Pines and called police, Crane said. Biggs was dead by the time they got to his house around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Crane said. He had started blogging at 3 a.m...."
• "Officials: Teen commits suicide on webcam as others watch"
  CNN (November 21, 2008)
  • "MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- With his webcam trained on him, a Florida teenager died in his bed of a drug overdose while others watched over the Internet, officials said Friday.
  • "Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper said it was clear that the teen committed suicide.
  • "Some of those watching urged him to take more drugs while others debated whether he had taken enough to kill himself. Hours passed before someone finally notified authorities that he appeared lifeless, officials said...."

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¹Back in the sixties, there was hand-wringing - and legitimate concern - about a growing number of cases where people refused to help others, or pretended not to notice. The word "apathetic" was sometimes applied.

Maybe so, but that was also a period where some concerned citizen could pull a driver from a burning car, and get sued for inflicting a (real or imagined) injury. A few people apparently learned that the system encouraged apathy, and acted accordingly.

Whatever the cause, a particularly disgusting case in 1964 put "apathy" and "we didn't want to get involved" on the map. I remember the story of how 38 people listened for a half hour, while a young woman screamed for help - and was finally killed.

A well-researched account of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese's death tells a rather different story about this cultural landmark. ("Kitty Genovese A critical review of the March 27, 1964 New York Times article that first broke the story," A Picture History of Kew Gardens (Revised August 17, 2008))

A detail that didn't get into the legend was that Kitty was attacked during a New York City winter. Sane people have their windows closed, and stay inside if they can. There's more, but the facts of the case aren't the point here.

Catherine Genovese's death got people talking about apathy, and encouraged some to find out why others didn't get involved. I think this helped get "good Samaritan" laws on the books.

Her murder - The New York Times version that swept the country - inspired the song, "All's Quiet on West 23rd." The recording done by Julie Budd seems to be the best-known, but the song was released several times, by

• The Jades
  (May 1967) (45, with "Crazy Me," Smash records)
• Julie Budd
  (1968) (45, with "Whistle A Tune," M-G-M records)
• The Jades
  (1970) (45, with "Love of a Woman," Liberty records)

And, quite possibly, by people and groups I wasn't able to dig up. (FYI, some of those links are to commercial sites, and may not be valid for very long.)