freespirit
7th December 2011, 09:04 AM
http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/canadian_teens_save_the_life_of_suicidal_friend_in _belgium/34554ad9
...nice to know the internet can be used for something other than porn...;D
Two teens in Quebec saved the life of a friend in Belgium that they met through online video-gaming, showing that the relationships we make on the web can be just as real as the ones we make offline.
The debate over the merits of social networking and online video-gaming may continue, but for two teens in Quebec, the value of connecting with someone across the ocean through a computer is evident: they saved the life of a suicidal friend.
Through online video games and Facebook, Nicolas Martineau and Cedric Deschamps had made friends with a 17-year-old in Belgium. After a breakup with his girlfriend, the Belgian boy spoke of his desire to kill himself to Nicolas and Cedric, showed them images of his cut wrists, and admitted to drinking toxic liquids.
Nicolas told his mother, who called authorities in Quebec. The Quebec Provincial Police alerted Belgian authorities, and the boy was taken into medical care; recent reports indicate that he is doing well and undergoing treatment.
We should be lauding these two teens, and commending them for not only their actions, but for their care and concern for someone across the world — someone they had never actually met. It's easy to create emotional distance when separated by large physical distance; these two boys used their technology to bridge not just an ocean, but common interests, ideas, and actions.
The World Wide Web, like the phone and the radio before it, is a tool that helps make distance seem smaller. Like every other tool, it can be used for good and bad, and it is approached with skepticism by many who can't see its value. But despite all the great things that can be done online, the web is still just a tool, and needs to be used by good, caring, smart people in order to meet its potential.
A tool is only as good as the people who use it: let's laud the internet for facilitating the connection between the two boys in Quebec and the one in Belgium, but most of all, let's commend these two Canadian teens for having insight, intelligence, and genuinely good hearts.
Nicolas Martineau and Cedric Deschamps saw the value and the potential in using the web to connect to a young man far away, and came to his aid when he needed it most. Because of their character and their ability to use both the tools and their sound judgment, they saved someone's life — an achievement that we should all be grateful for.
...nice to know the internet can be used for something other than porn...;D
Two teens in Quebec saved the life of a friend in Belgium that they met through online video-gaming, showing that the relationships we make on the web can be just as real as the ones we make offline.
The debate over the merits of social networking and online video-gaming may continue, but for two teens in Quebec, the value of connecting with someone across the ocean through a computer is evident: they saved the life of a suicidal friend.
Through online video games and Facebook, Nicolas Martineau and Cedric Deschamps had made friends with a 17-year-old in Belgium. After a breakup with his girlfriend, the Belgian boy spoke of his desire to kill himself to Nicolas and Cedric, showed them images of his cut wrists, and admitted to drinking toxic liquids.
Nicolas told his mother, who called authorities in Quebec. The Quebec Provincial Police alerted Belgian authorities, and the boy was taken into medical care; recent reports indicate that he is doing well and undergoing treatment.
We should be lauding these two teens, and commending them for not only their actions, but for their care and concern for someone across the world — someone they had never actually met. It's easy to create emotional distance when separated by large physical distance; these two boys used their technology to bridge not just an ocean, but common interests, ideas, and actions.
The World Wide Web, like the phone and the radio before it, is a tool that helps make distance seem smaller. Like every other tool, it can be used for good and bad, and it is approached with skepticism by many who can't see its value. But despite all the great things that can be done online, the web is still just a tool, and needs to be used by good, caring, smart people in order to meet its potential.
A tool is only as good as the people who use it: let's laud the internet for facilitating the connection between the two boys in Quebec and the one in Belgium, but most of all, let's commend these two Canadian teens for having insight, intelligence, and genuinely good hearts.
Nicolas Martineau and Cedric Deschamps saw the value and the potential in using the web to connect to a young man far away, and came to his aid when he needed it most. Because of their character and their ability to use both the tools and their sound judgment, they saved someone's life — an achievement that we should all be grateful for.