Paris Jackson has been recuperating from a suicide attempt earlier this month. While we have stories about what exactly happened we don’t know for sure, although we’re getting another piece. Facebook may have had something to do with it, specifically, cyber bullying. From TMZ:
Sources closely connected to Paris tell TMZ … the 15-year-old has been reeling from comments left on her Facebook page — many about Michael Jackson and his lifestyle. Some of the comments involve the various molestation allegations … others involve the odd life Paris lived while Michael was alive.
We’re told Paris has taken the comments very personally … and one source says, “They destroyed her.” The source adds, there’s a nexus between the bullying and her penchant for cutting.
Now here’s the problem. Paris does not have access to her Facebook page while she’s in the psych ward at UCLA Medical Center. But her family is deeply concerned that she’ll backslide if she goes back on Facebook when she gets out.
The family is extremely frustrated, because they’ve tried to shut down Paris’ Facebook page, but they can’t — Facebook’s policy is that the family of a user has no right to shut down an account if the user is 13 years of age or older.
I guess her Facebook settings weren’t set to just trusted friends and family. It’s impossible of course to filter out everything on Facebook that you don’t want.
I don’t know what to do here. What would your solution be?
only this generation considers suicide an option before just deleting fucking facebook.
what an age we live in.
My BF grew up hearing from his father how he better be prepared to die in Vietnam. Way to lighten the convo, Pop! But it was a fact of life for young men in the early 70’s. Luckily, the war ended before he got out of high school.
I don’t want to be all “these kids today” who don’t have the problems “we had.” Actually, at least we knew our enemies in those days. Bullies had to actually take the time to go to where you were to mess with you. Rumors were passed as notes in class and didn’t live forever in a cyberspace that didn’t exist yet. Our naughty pictures came from Polaroids and were pretty pathetic. Safe sex just meant your mom didn’t catch you! A pretty innocent time but it FELT hard. Young people now are getting terrible messages from all sides. Girls have killed themselves after trusting a boy (usually a mistake at that age) not to pass around the shot of her boobs. There is no safety in the Internet world of social media and smart phones. Maybe Paris thought having a gazillion FB friends would be cool. Maybe she was too young and sheltered to know that the percentage of “cool” strangers on FB and Twitter is L O W. We fought Vietnam, gas lines and disco. I’ll take my youth over what “these kids today” have to fight to survive in their own heads. Paris is gorgeous and seemed to be strong. But she is struggling now. With a tight family having her back in a positive way, I don’t see why she can’t move on from this setback. I hope she has a core group of girlfriends who can stand shoulder to shoulder with her against people who want to hurt her.
Sorry I wrote so much. Somehow this kid and her sadness just gets to me.
I feel you.
very sad for Paris but her dad was a public figure and his life choices are up for discussion. On the other hand, Jordan Chandler, Gavin Arvizo etc ARE NOT public figures and they’ve had to endure years of abuse from Wacko’s defenders. Had they tried to kill themselves, the Michael Jackson family would have been overjoyed.
The entire scene is a mess.
Paris is reaping what her father and family have sowed.
Aw, BULLSHIT!! Just some spin the Jackson PR committee is using to make it look like her suicide attempts is somebody else’s fault that doesn’t have a Jackson surname!