The girl's parents did not approve of the boy so they forbade the girl to see him. Not knowing what to do, the teenagers decided to commit suicide. The girl succeeded, while the boy got scared and decided not to commit suicide. I am very disturbed by this program and how this information could affect other teenagers. Televising tragedy, in turn, creates tragedy.
Research proves that highly publicized programs trigger imitative behavior by viewers.
One such study was conducted by a sociologist from the University of California in San Diego, David Phillips. Phillips documented that following a highly publicized suicide the suicide rate, in that geographical region, increases dramatically. After learning of a person's suicide, many viewers decide that committing suicide is an appropriate and acceptable behavior. This may sound very bizarre. However, this really is not a farfetched idea since it is very normal to look to the actions of others around us to know what appropriate behavior is.