Sensationalising tragedy and society’s lack of empathy

The tragic death of a teenage girl, who took her life by jumping off the Lotus Tower in Colombo is shocking and deeply troubling. Initial police investigations have found the girl had been disturbed over the death a few weeks ago of two of her classmates who took their lives by jumping off a residential building in Colombo.

The story of the girl’s death has made headline news both in print and electronic media and is being widely discussed on social media. What is most distasteful is the manner in which some sections of the media have chosen to report on the tragedy with the fact that the girl was a student of a leading “international school” somehow being highlighted in a manner to give a negative connotation and take away from the human tragedy that has impacted the family and loved ones of the victim. Instead, what gets highlighted is the fact that the girl belonged to an affluent family and somehow her family background and other connections led to the tragedy.

We are living in times that young children, adolescents are facing many challenges as they navigate through the young years of life. It’s a time when many changes take place in their lives and for parents and teachers too it’s a challenging time. Mental health of children is rarely discussed in the country and even in the most stable family environment, children face many challenges. Exposure to social media, peer pressures, school and family environment, etc. can lead to young children having serious mental health issues. In past generations, they were dismissed as part of growing up but in today’s world where awareness of mental health is growing, children too need specialised care if the family and school they attend are unable to provide them with the due care.

That said, the death of the young girl exposes the sickening attitude of our society in general toward such tragedies. Unethical reporting (some television stations had no qualms about identifying victims by name in their news bulletins) stigmatises the victim instead of helping to sensitise society. There is no guarantee that such a tragedy will not impact other families including those who are judgemental about others’ parenting skills or think that “international school” students are the only ones facing such situations. There have been suicides among students of other schools as well but they rarely draw the same attention or get sensationlised in the manner that the “international school” tag does.

The print media has strict guidelines on reporting on suicide. Going into details of how a person took their life is discouraged as most experts know from experience that the less said in the media about suicide, the less the likelihood of copycat cases by those at high risk of such behaviour.

When a man took his own life a few years ago at the Vihara Maha Devi Park, a note that was found on him was read out over TV stations and published in some newspapers. This was done without any knowledge of the family members or their authorisation.

It’s the same with the recent incidents where the media took it upon themselves to expose family members, dig up details of the families and put them in the public domain so as to create prejudice for the victim in the public eye.

This is shameful and disgusting. What society as a whole must do is empathise with such victims and their families at such a trying time. Instead we have a society driven by an ill-informed and prejudiced media adding fuel to fire. What we need is more reporting on how those who are suicidal can seek help and increase awareness on how to identify at-risk persons so that they can get the necessary help before tragedy strikes.