<p>Are you serious?</p>
<p>But in the remote case you were, here’s a good start for you to enlighten yourself:</p>
<p>[The</a> Gordie Foundation - Home](<a href=“http://www.gordie.org/home.aspx]The”>http://www.gordie.org/home.aspx)</p>
<p>Even if only one life was saved from “the ensuing” discussions and debates, it would have been positive.</p>
<p>I happen to agree with Xiggi’s statement. If this were not true, why do so many families of horrible tragedies to their loved ones speak out and say something to the effect “if we can help prevent just one similar occurance from happening again…”</p>
<p>I think the discussion became offensive when innuendos were made to erotic asphyxiation, when that had not been identified as a cause, and when links were posted to suicide in a particular population.</p>
<p>parent 1986, kids need to know about those dangers, as well, though I had not read the article, I had assumed the posters before me had. I apologize if I offended your sensibilities.</p>
<p>There have been an unfortunately large number of deaths around here, and not autoerotic, but just of kids strangling themselves to get “high.” No eroticisms. That was my fear.</p>
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<p>I am not sure I follow this. Why is the posting of an article that is not only accurate but extremely relevant to this case considered offensive?</p>
<p>Read the comment on the article posted by Christine Lu: </p>
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<p>The FACT that teens from a certain ethnic group have to cope with extraordinary pressures is something that should be addressed and not buried. When more than one student from Silicon Valley decides to jump on the tracks on a Caltrain, it is no longer an accident or a mere incident. </p>
<p>As I wrote before, we (as a society) tend to overlook how fragile the younger generations are. Professionals who deal with the frailties of the human mind know better. </p>
<p>Shocking one’s sensibilities is long overdue.</p>
<p>[MacGregor</a> freshman found dead - The Tech](<a href=“http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N48/tonegawa.html]MacGregor”>http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N48/tonegawa.html)
^discovered a little bit more about his family</p>
<p>“Prof. Tonegawa, recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is a controversial figure. In 2006, Tonegawa resigned as director of MITs Picower Institute for Learning and Memory after an investigation found he had inappropriately discouraged neuroscientist Alla Y. Karpova from taking a job at MIT because their research interests overlapped. Prof. Tonegawa was in Japan when he was alerted to his sons death, the Mainichi Daily News reported, but has since returned to the U.S.”</p>
<p>“Hidde Tonegawa 09, Susumus other son, graduated from MIT in 2009 and majored in Brain and Cognitive Sciences.”</p>
<p>We can all speculate on the reasons behind his self inflicted asphyxiation. Officially, it was determined to be suicide. Perhaps other pieces of the puzzle of his life helped come to the conclusion that suicide is indeed the most logical explanation for his self inflicted asphyxiation. Every article I’ve read about this story mentions tutors. It isn’t far fetched for a student from a family where extreme high academic success is prized above everything else to feel that nothing he does will ever measure up to what has all ready been accomplished by others. Speculation?–sure. Perhaps not even his family or friends understood the pressure he may have felt to live up to such high expectations.</p>
<p>nysmile.
“We can all speculate on the reasons behind his self inflicted asphyxiation.”</p>
<p>Oh gosh please. Can I have some more.</p>
<p>“As for the fact that the first article was written in the student paper at MIT, with all due respect, I think that students are well aware of the choking game and autoerotic asphyxiation. Seriously doubt this is news to many young adults.” #238</p>
<p>Right. So why dwell on it?</p>
<p>“I am not sure I follow this. Why is the posting of an article that is not only accurate but extremely relevant to this case considered offensive?”#265</p>
<p>IMO, it is racist to single out a group with a negative - suicide is a concern in all populations.</p>
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<p>actually, the paper said it was suicide, we do not know if the death certificate officially called it suicide. That too, is still speculation. The article does not specifiy that “suicide” is on the death certificate. It just states that the death was a suicide, which may have been assumed from reading the term “self-inflicted” on the death certificate.</p>
<p>Since you are a professional in the area of youth psychology, hmac, why don’t you consider contributing positively by giving some guidance for parents worried about the mental health of their children away at college?</p>
<p>a suicide of any college student can be a wake up call to other students, to faculty, and to parents of other college students. What is wrong with getting a WAKE UP CALL? Nothing.</p>
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<p>And I hope the discussions among the authorities at MIT and other universities will also include some mention of the financial pressures placed on faculty children to attend the universities where their parents teach. One of the fringe benefits of being on the faculty at many universities is that your children can attend the school at a deep discount. There are reciprocal agreements with other universities, but the savings are not as great. </p>
<p>We cannot know whether this situation played any role in this specific instance, but I think there is reason to be concerned about the possibility that faculty children might be pressured to attend universities for which they are not well suited – and this concern applies especially to high-intensity schools such as MIT.</p>
<p>That is an interesting thought about pressures on faculty members kids, Marian.</p>
<p>Seems ironic that often people asks for data or information to support a comment or observation posted, but if someone posts something that happens to be about a specific population, it is de facto labelled as racist. It is unfortunate if some are offended by the articles. As was mentioned above, it should be a wake-up call to a rising problem. Our goal should be to save lives. Not to bicker over whether an article is relevant, or a discussion is uncomfortable. The pressure on many students to achieve is frightening. If there is information or research about a specific population, why not address it?</p>
<p>There is a thread going now about a student whose parents will only pay for him to go to a top 20 school, but many of the schools on his list are not in the top 20, and they are schools he likes. They are great schools, but just not in the top 20. Its an interesting read.</p>
<p>hmac,</p>
<p>Not understanding the reason for the continued sarcastic barbs. But if you want another example of the positive effects of the aftermath of the death of a young person, take a look at Iris Bolton’s nationally renowned program on suicide prevention, she started after the death of her own son. [::National</a> Council For Suicide Prevention:The Link’s National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare::](<a href=“Watching Porn Can Cause Addiction, Depression, Even Suicide: Mental Health Effects”>Watching Porn Can Cause Addiction, Depression, Even Suicide: Mental Health Effects)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.thelink.org/national_resource_center.htm[/url]”>http://www.thelink.org/national_resource_center.htm</a></p>
<p>How about we try to talk civilly and helpfully about saving the lives of young adults? Just a thought.</p>
<p>I, for one, was appalled to read about “the choking game.” I’d never heard of it. It seems that there is no end to the risky behaviors dreamed up by kids.</p>
<p>… has merely confirmed for me that there is a very small minority of American parents who have some sort of problem.
We have hosted a number of his fellow students from Stanford and their parents at our home in England and have had only positive experiences.</p>
<p>We have also sort of " picked up"a number of American college kids on semesters abroad and said
( and carried through) with hey come and stay with us in Surrey for a couple of days. Never did we encounter the sort of attitude expressed by a minority of posters on CC.</p>
<p>I am also happy to say that my youngest son has been welcomed with open arms by his fellow students at Stanford, and by their parents at American Thanksgiving. In the New Year we are expecting three Stanford students to be occupying our house (part-time) whilst on their semesters abroad.</p>
<p>**College Confidential seeks to maintain a friendly, welcoming community where all points of view can be discussed with civility. A few posts and comments above have been deleted, in accordance with Terms of Service (see FAQ). </p>
<p>Let us redirect this thread to the topic proposed in the thread’s title.**</p>
<p>…Now, for those who truly are interested in prevention of accidental or purposeful loss of young lives, lets get back to topic. </p>
<p>When my s was in HS his friends were supposedly “horsing around before gym class” and put him in a choke hold. Apparently they did it too hard or too long, and he lost consciousness. When his eyes rolled back in his head, the kid holding him got scared and let go. My s fell face first onto the gym floor, and as he was unconscious, he did not brace his fall. He broke his nose. It could have been a LOT worse. This stuff is NOT funny- it is serious. PLEASE educate your children.</p>
<p>I don’t believe this student played the choking game. I heard about choking game two or three years ago. The game is played by much younger kids.</p>
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<p>[GASP:</a> About the Choking Game](<a href=“http://www.gaspinfo.com/en/choking.html]GASP:”>GASP: About the Choking Game)</p>