The past few weeks at Campus Life, we've been talking about YOUR reality ... likening our lives to reality TV shows in order to separate the fake from the formidable, to find weakness and wisdom, and to try to come to grips with what our lives actually are, rather than believe the lies being told to us by media, medicine, or authority.

Well, the Internet world got a hefty does of uncensored reality this past week when a Florida boy overdosed on his anti-depressant meds and then proceeded to wait for them to take effect, all while streaming the experience live on the Internet via his webcam. Apparently he had threatened to do it before, and while he languished in the final stages of succumbing to the drugs, many of the observers who were watching weren't concerned in the least for his welfare... most of them probably thought it was fake, some were arguing over whether he had taken enough meds to actually kill him, and there were some egging him on, drunk on the false bravado that Internet anonymity provides. Eventually someone thought, "hey, what if this is real" and things happened very quickly from that point, but I had to ask myself, "Would *I* have just passed it off as a fake, some Internet attention whore type kid who's just doing his best to be the next big thing on the Internet and get his 15 minutes of fame?" The answer is probably yes... a good portion (actually, I would say the majority) of surprising or controversial images or videos on the Internet are completely staged, and I must admit to being jaded enough to demand proof until I'm satisfied that a video showing something unbelievable is actually real. Unfortunately, in this case, the only proof possible was his successful suicide attempt, and I can only imagine what people who were egging him on, yawning in boredom at the "obviously fake" OD, or just viewing out of pure morbid curiosity, must be thinking today.

We talked about violence last week, and the many forms and faces that it can take, but one of the facets of violence that is seldom discussed is our responsibility to be part of the solution. All it would have taken is one person to be concerned sooner for the safety of this young man to notify the website and authorities, and there is a good chance his life would have been saved. In this case, it was violence he was inflicting on himself, and the right thing to do was help stop it. The circumstances of him broadcasting it made it quite unbelievable and easily dismissed, so I can see participant/observers having a excuse to just shrug the whole thing off as it was going on. The circumstances of most of the violence WE see being done to others is much more concrete and apparent, isn't it? It's not enough to just bemoan the fact that violence exists, it is our responsibility to end or interfere with it when it's happening unjustly to someone who is innocent.

So, think about this story the next time you see that girl getting tongue-lashed by her boyfriend, that guy enduring emotional abuse from his group of friends who tease him incessantly about being scrawny, nerdy, or gay because he's a loser with the ladies, the wallflower who gets physically roughed up at school... think about this story and remind yourself of your responsibility to be concerned with the welfare of others experiencing undeserved violence. It's not just physical abuse... it's any "damage" that someone goes through at the hands of another that leaves lasting scars, whether physically or emotionally.

You never know... the person you cared enough to help today might have been the next Internet suicide. Would you be able to deal with THAT reality?