Family members of a recently deceased Florida teenager are stunned and confused following his death. They said his death was sudden and unexpected, while others in an online forum for bodybuilders say he’d threatened suicide before. Subsequently, users of Justin.tv, a link Biggs posted on the forum, didn’t take him seriously when he went through with his suicide in front of a webcam. (Story continues below.)
Discussion Starters:
1.) What is the appropriate course of action to take if someone threatens suicide? Should the course of action differ depending on the number of times he or she has threatened to end his or her life? Should suicide prevention couseling be made mandatory to any and all people who work with youth? Why or why not?
2.) To what do you and/or others who work with youth attribute their need to know and be known by others in such a publicly intimate way?
3.) What does Scripture say about the value of life — and of taking one’s own? Start with
Abraham Biggs, 19, of Miami, overdosed on a combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, prescribed after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
A student at Broward College, Biggs ended his life at his father’s house in Pembroke Pines. Police entered the frame 12 hours after Bigg’s declaration. It’s unclear how many people watched his suicide online, but some viewers encouraged him to proceed while others tried to intervene. No one, however, took proactive steps to alert the forum moderator or other emergency services workers until it was too late.
