Coulter warns of Web Chat Room Menace
Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has warned of the dangers about internet chat rooms being used by young people with suicidal tendancies.
Dr Coulter said that in his work as a clergyman, he had had “to pastor and counsel those who have suffered trauma in the aftermath of a suicide in the family”.
The MLA, who is also UUP Health Spokersman, added: “I was amazed to learn recently of a chat room that actually promotes suicides. I was horrified when I read that someone who was suicidal said in the chat room that they were going to commit suicide.
“They were actively encouraged to take their own life, which they did. That suicide was photographed as it happened, so that others could take delight in seeing a life being taken.
“It is incumbent on all of us regardless of religion, political beliefs, backgrounds and aspirations to take this problem of suicides to heart, especially among young people.
“It is a great loss to society when young people who have spent years in primary school, high school or grammar school and then, perhaps, further education, suddenly take their lives. Their future is lost not only to them and to their families, but to society.
“Similarly, what is the cost when someone’s life is suddenly cut off after they have been trained to commit their talents to society?
“And it’s not only politicians and health professionals who must contribute to finding a workable blueprint to combat suicides in society. We must have active involvment from the churches, mental health charities, teachers and anyone involved with young people.
“In North Antrim, a young boy was bullied at school and took his own life. The impact of that on the family and on the community was disastrous. The family have never gotten over it and they never will.
“If only teachers had been aware of the bullying, perhaps that young talent could have been saved,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.