Posts Tagged: copycat

World Opinion — 7 Comments
2
Oct 08

Do Suicide Reports Increase Suicides?

Nearly two years ago, in “Copycat Japanese“, I wrote about how I thought the media’s sensationalistic reporting of teenage suicides was to blame for spurring on more suicides. Recently, this suspicion was confirmed when I found out about researcher David Phillips’ studies from the 1970’s that showed a significant increase in not only suicides, but also car accidents and plane crashes in the days after a suicide is reported in the mass media. The explanation for all the traffic accidents is attributed to those wishing to commit suicide without placing a burden of guilt on family or friends.

I bring this up because of a recent teenage suicide in the U.K. A 17-year old boy, threatening to leap from the roof of a public building, was goaded into jumping by youths in the street below. The article I read, but won’t link to, gave an in-depth analysis with full color pictures of the victim and location, and the title included a disgusting quote from one of the youths in the street below. It may have been a quote, but it is stuck in my head and keeps reminding me of the article.

The story has triggered the usual public criticism of modern society in Britain, with the government, the education system and the parents being handed the blame. Yet all this publicity, as David Phillips showed, is only likely to encourage more suicides.

Are we to believe the media don’t know they influence copycat incidents? That can’t be the case because many countries have journalism codes to control the reporting of suicides. No. We have to accept that the media is well aware of the consequences of its actions and is putting profit before people, and that is simply unforgivable.

Japan — No Comments
11
Nov 06

Copycat Japanese

The Japanese have historically been known for copying things and making them better, call it reverse-engineering if you like. In fact, one of the main reasons they started learning English was to understand scientific journals for this very purpose.

This trend extends to fashion in which brands such as Louis Vuitton are so popular, it seems everybody here owns an LV bag or purse. No-one seems to mind having the same thing as everyone else, which in my opinion defeats the purpose of spending so much money on something which should be unique.

Of course, every sports team needs an American-style nickname such as the ‘Giants’ or the ‘Dragons’; new houses are designed like their western equivalents; and if you don’t dye your hair brown, well you’re just not… erm… Japanese!

The list goes on and on, and I guess there’s no harm in adopting other cultures as part of your own, but this trend of mimicking others has a twisted side…

The Japanese media, as with most countries, thrives on bringing bad news to the public’s attention, but sometimes I find the level of detail alarming. I first noticed this a few years ago when I watched a report about a growing number of burglaries. The report told viewers when the robberies were taking place, typical buildings which were targeted, why they were targeted and how the burglars gained entry. I watched and thought…”Blimey! These guys are geniuses!” If I had any desire to, I could have used that advice to start my own crime syndicate!

Recently in the news there has been a spate of child suicides. School children, mostly elementary and junior high students, who have taken their own lives as a result of bullying. I’ve talked about the lack of discipline in Japanese schools before, and this latest news highlights the possible affects of a lack of punishment. What is striking of course is that after the first suicide got national media attention it was quickly followed by similar cases occurring across the country. Sure, it could be coincidence, but I doubt it.

The dilemma here is that the problem of bullying needs to be made public, but there is always the risk that people will copy what they see on the news, and with a population of 128 million people, there will always be someone who does.

Last week, an anonymous student wrote a letter to the minister of Education threatening to commit suicide on school premises on November 11th if bullying wasn’t stopped at his or her school. With no way of determining which school that student attends, the whole country is waiting anxiously for an update as the deadline passes.

Needless to say, a few days after that letter was sent, the Education minister received another similar letter from a different student! Hmm… I wonder where that idea came from.

All I can say is I hope the Japanese media don’t hear about the 22-year old man in England who tried to set off a firework from his bum, only for it to backfire and cause serious internal injuries! I wouldn’t want to see copycat cases of that!