In Michigan, Tysen Benz, an 11-year-old boy, hanged himself after reading text messages and posts on social media that lead him to believe that his 13-year-old girlfriend had killed herself. This entire incident took only 40 minutes to unravel. Tysen’s mother, Katrina Goss, found him in his room, unresponsive. He attempted suicide on March 14, 2017, but he died this last Tuesday (April 4th) after being taken off of life support. Later, the family discovered the girlfriend was still alive and that she had faked her death as a prank. A group of her friends were also involved in the prank. The mother alleges that Tysen expressed his thought of suicide to the girl's friends. The name of the juvenile charged has not yet been released to the media because of her age. The charges involved were "malicious use of telecommunication services" and "using a computer to commit a crime". The family is completely heartbroken over this tragedy that could have been avoided.
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Questions:
Do you think that the teenage girl should be charged?
How would you react if you were Tysen’s parent?
Do you agree with their decision to take Tysen off of life support?
My Answers:
I think that the girl should be charged with something because she used her death as a prank on purpose to negatively affect Tysen. I know that she didn’t actually, physically murder him, but she sent him private text messages and directed social media posts toward him which lead him to kill himself. Although, maybe the child was depressed before and the suicide prank just sent him over the edge. There could have been preexisting symptoms of depression the parents could have detected. If I were Tyson's parent, I would definitely blame the girl somewhat, mostly out of anger, but I would also blame myself for not checking up on him in that brief gap of time. I think that if Tysen’s conditions weren’t treatable, and that he wouldn’t wake up, taking him off life support was okay. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to live like that; I would want to find peace and not live off of a machine.
Replies
Well done Emma!
honestly know she shouldn't it was a joke that went to far. letting her deal with the loss of somebody is enough punishment especially if she loved that person. I would be mad, but the right thing to do is to forgive the girl. If there was no way for him to live then yes , but if there was then no.
I definitely think the teenage girl should be charged. She is the reason that the boy killed himself. If she never would have pretended to kill herself then the boy would still be alive today. I don't understand why someone would pretend to kill themselves anyway. Suicide is a serious thing and not something to joke about ever. I think that if there was signs that he was never going to wake up then the decision to take him off life support was a good idea. I would decide the same thing if I knew that he was never going to wake up again.
I believe the girl should be charged with something because she used the fake death to hurt this kid. People would say that she shouldn't be charged because she didn't actually kill him but the girl sent him a message to make him think that she has died. If I were Tysen's parents I would definitely go to the girls parents to let them know what just happened. If I was the parents I wouldn't want to watch my son suffer like that.
I think that the girl should be charged because it is completely wrong to fake your own death as a prank. Especially since she knew it would have a negative affect on Tysen, and in a way killed him. Obviously, she didn't physically kill him; however, by sending him messages and having her friends send him messages in order to convince him she has committed suicide ultimately pushed him over the edge. If I was Tysen's parents I would be completely heartbroken and angry. I would be angry at the girl and probably blame her to part of him suicide. In the end though, I would most likely end up blaming myself for not checking up on him or getting to him quicker. If Tysen was not responsive and there was nothing more the doctors could do, I think it was the best choice to take him off of life support.
I agree. I too would blame myself a lot if I were the parent. Even though it would be hard to know what was happening on social media, it would be hard to know that his death was preventable.
Yes, since what she did was a prank and that is a crime in itself albeit a small crime but still a crime, and since there was a suicide it would be even worst since they could look at this as an assisted suicide and putting even more charges on the girl. I would immediately call 911, and try to make sure he stays alive, and try to keep him on life support until he comes back unless there is absolutely no chance of him coming back. It would depend was there no chance for Him to come back or was there a chance were they poor or not. It depends on those kinds of things but I think it was still a hard choice for them.
I think that the girl should be charged. In my opinion I don't think it matters what she is charged with just as long as she is charged. She sent messages and had her friends post things to make her boyfriend think that she committed suicide so that led him to commit suicide. If I was his parents I would be so heart broken that someone else made my child kill himself. I'm not really sure what I would do in that situation. I'm also not sure how he tried to kill himself so it is kinda hard to decide weather or not that was a good idea. If he were my son I would probably take him off life support because I wouldn't want to spend all my days just sitting and waiting for my son to come back to us.
I agree as well about taking him off of life support. There was a considerable amount of damage and trauma, so him coming back was not likely.
I dont see how she would be charged because she didnt force him to commit suicide. Although it could be attempt for her to get away from him she didnt make him kill himself. If i was tysens parent i would be upset but overall theres not that much that i could do to change anything that happend. I dont know what condition Tysen was in when they took him off life support but it was obviously a bad decision.
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